4:1 What, then,
shall we say that our father Abraham found according to the flesh?
What, then, shall
we say. What he had said above, that a
person is justified by faith, he now shows through Abraham, in whom all trust,
and who through faith obtained justice, the promise, and paternity. according
to the flesh, i.e., from works of the law. As if to say: You will ask
whether he is just from these? No, because if he were just from carnal
observance then he has eternal glory, which follows justice, from himself and
not from God. Or such justification is in human opinion and not justification
before God. Thus it follows that he was justified by faith, which he goes on to
prove, if you listen to what Scripture says.
What, then—because no one is just without faith
Abraham—whom we should imitate
according to the flesh—i.e., circumcision
4:2 If Abraham
was justified by works of the law, he has no reason to boast, but not before
God.
was justified by
works—was only justified by works
he has reason to boast—concerning this justification
but not before God—which is contrary to the verse: Let him
that boasts boast in the Lord (1 Cor. 10:17)
4:3 For what does
Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was reputed to him as justice.
For what does
Scripture say? As if to say: listen to what Scripture says.
Abraham believed. Believing was a sufficient cause of justice for
him and for others. Yet a reward will not be given according to grace alone to
someone that has the opportunity to work, but also according to what is owed
for his own work. But to him who does not have an opportunity to work, if he
believes, then faith alone suffices for justice and thus for salvation,
according to the grace made available to all, or according to what God laid
down earlier in the law.
what does
Scripture say?—but he had
justice before God, for Scripture says, Abraham believed, etc.
Abraham believed God—who said: In your seed shall all the
Gentiles be blessed (Gen 22:18; 26:4; 28:14), and other prophecies of this
kind
was reputed to him as justice—i.e., was a sufficient cause of
justice for him, as it is for others too.
4:4 Now to him
who works, a reward is not imputed as grace, but as debt.
Now to him who
works. As if to say: Abraham was just by
faith, but to him who performs those carnal works, or any good works, in order
to merit grace, then if he has a reward, it is not from grace form what his own
merit deserves. But to the one who does not do these carnal works or any good works
but only believes, his faith suffices for justice. And so he attributes to others what he has
said of Abraham, namely, that if he is just from works he has reason to boast,
not before God; and therefore justice is by faith. But as debt. Augustine:
Do not flatter yourself concerning merits when you hear that he renders you a
reward as a debt for works, as if the grace of the one rendering a reward were
not as much in your works as the grace of the one justifying is in your faith.
For I am far from convinced that anything may be called a work requiring God’s
remuneration from debt, since even when we are able to accomplish or think or
say anything, we do it from God’s gift and generosity.
who works—who has an opportunity to work
a reward—justice
is not imputed—will not be given
grace—the grace of faith alone
debt—owed for his work, from his works
4:5 But to him who
does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is
reputed as justice according to the purpose of God’s grace.
But to whim who .
. . believes in him. It does
not say “who believes him,” for a person believes him when he accepts what God
says as true, which even the wicked do. Nor is it to believe that God exists,
which even the devils do. But to believe in God to love him in believing, to go
to him in believing, and to be incorporated into his body. according to
the purpose. In other words, an ungodly person is justified without
preceding works, and this happens according to the purpose of God’s grace,
i.e., according to God’s grace intended for believers, according to what God
determined long before.
who does not work—who does not have an opportunity to work as
Abraham had
him—Christ
who justifies the ungodly—who freely forgives the sins of the
ungodly; then he shows how:
his faith—which works did not merit
is reputed—i.e., is what suffices
justice—salvation
according to the purpose of God’s grace—as God has determined, so
that when the law came to an end, then faith might justify.
4:6 Likewise, David
speaks about the blessedness of a person to whom God credits justice without
works:
Likewise, David speaks—I am saying the same thing that David says
about blessedness—here and in the future life
of a person—that he has blessedness
credits—at the acceptable time, that is in the time of Christ; or
acceptably, that is, freely; God carries in, as it were, a person who is unable
to approach on his own
justice—the remission of sins and good works
without works-without preceding works
4:7 Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered;
iniquities. Original sin, namely the inclination to sin,
which his called concupiscence or passion or the law of one’s members or the debility
of nature, and other such terms. Before baptism it is sin and punishment, but
after baptism it is punishment and not sin; it makes a child prone to
concupiscence but not concupiscent. An adult, however, is also concupiscent, which
indeed is forgiven in baptism and left behind as far as guilt, but remains as
far as act. It is called original because it is incurred from the corrupt condition
of our origin, whereby we have been conceived out of the corrupt law of
conceiving that resulted from the sin of the first man, i.e., from concupiscence
of the flesh. It has caused three degrees of sin: iniquity or impiety, when the
creator is not acknowledged; sinful works; and slight sin, which he does not
impute. are forgiven. To forgive is to cover; the words mean the
same thing.
Blessed, etc.—David speaks in these words
are forgiven—by God, that sin may not rule in his mortal body;
through baptism without the work or labor of penance
sins—that are in act
are covered—they are so covered in baptism that they are no
longer seen to deserve punishment.
4:8 blessed is
the person to whom the Lord has not imputed sin.
has not imputed (or
will not impute)—for punishment
sin—original sin, which is from another, or venial sin
4:9 Does this
blessedness, therefore, abide only in circumcision, or also in foreskin? We say
that faith was reputed to Abraham or justice.
this blessedness—About which David speaks and which Abraham
possessed. Since it is established that blessedness is from grace through
faith, now it is asked among whom it exists, whether among the Jews alone or
also among the Gentiles.
We say—speaking according to the meaning of the law
faith—not circumcision (The Glossa Ordinaria on Romans [trans.
Michael Scott Woodard; TEAMS Commentary Series; Kalamazoo, Mich.: Western
Michigan University, 2011], 61-65)