Romans 1:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Why, then, does he not say here, “I glory,” but, “I am not ashamed”? The Romans were greatly devoted to worldly affairs because of their wealth, power, victories, and their own kings. They considered these kings equal to gods, and even called them so. Therefore they honored them with temples, altars, and sacrifices.

Since they were very proud, Paul had to preach Jesus, who was called the son of a carpenter, who was raised in Judea in the house of an obscure woman. He had no armor-bearers with Him and was not surrounded by wealth. He died with criminals as a transgressor, and endured many other shameful things.

It was natural for the Romans, who did not yet know the ineffable and great mysteries, to be ashamed of all this. Therefore the Apostle says, “I am not ashamed,” teaching them also, for the present, not to be ashamed. He knew that once they became perfected in this, they would soon go further and glory in it.

Therefore, when you hear the question, “Do you worship the Crucified One?” do not be ashamed. Do not cast down your eyes. Rather, glory and exult. With a bold gaze and unveiled brow, confirm your confession.

If they ask again, “Do you really worship the Crucified One?” answer again, “Yes.” Not an adulterer, not a father-killer, not a child-killer, as all the gods of the pagans are, but Him who by the Cross conquered demons and destroyed thousands of their sorceries.

For us the Cross is the work of ineffable love for mankind, the symbol of great care. Since they, the pagan philosophers, were filled with external wisdom and were greatly proud of it, boasting in their rhetoric, Paul says of himself: “Having renounced rational demonstrations forever, I go to preach the Cross, and I am not ashamed of it.”

“For it is the power of God unto salvation.” Since this power of God also acts in punishment, for when God punished the Egyptians He said, “This is My great power,” and in destruction, as it is said, “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Mt 10:28), the Apostle says this for that reason.

“I come to you not with such a power. I bring not punishments and vengeance, but that which serves for salvation.” How is this so? Did not the Gospel also proclaim punishment, Gehenna, outer darkness, and the venomous worm? We learned these things from no other source, but from the Gospel.

How, then, does the Apostle say of it, “the power of God unto salvation”? Hear what follows: “to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Not simply to all, but to those who receive it.

Though you be a Greek and have passed through every vice, though you be a Scythian or a barbarian, even a very beast, though you be filled with every folly and burdened by the weight of countless sins, as soon as you receive the word of the Cross and are baptized, you have wiped all this away.

Why then does the Apostle say here, “to the Jew first and also to the Greek”? What does this distinction mean? He himself often said that circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing. How then does he now divide them, placing the Jew above the Greek?

What does this mean? Certainly not that the first receives more grace merely because he is first. The same gift is given to Jew and Gentile alike. The word “first” is used only to indicate order.

The Jew has no advantage in receiving justification to a greater degree. He has only been deemed worthy to receive it first. So also those who are illumined, you who are initiated into the mysteries know what I mean, all approach Baptism, but not all at the same time. One is first, another second.

Yet of course the first receives no more than the second, and the second no more than the one after him. The same thing is given to all. Thus the word “first” here expresses priority in the order of speech, not any superiority in grace.

Then the Apostle, after saying, “unto salvation,” again magnifies the gift, showing that it is not limited to the present, but extends into the future. He expressed this in the words: Rom 1:17. “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written: The righteous shall live by faith.”

There is also a power of God for punishment. Thus God showed His power to the Egyptians by punishing them. There is also power unto destruction, as it is said: "Fear Him who is able to destroy in Gehenna" (Mt 10:28).

Therefore what I, Paul, preach contains neither punishment nor destruction, but salvation. For whom? For everyone who believes. For the Gospel serves unto salvation not simply for all, but for those who receive it.

"First for the Jew, then also for the Greek." Here the word "first" means priority in order, not superiority in grace.

The Jew must not be preferred as though he receives more justification. He was only counted worthy to receive it earlier. Therefore the word "first" expresses only priority in the order of discourse.

He said that it is offered to all, both Jews and Greeks, but he placed the Jews before the Greeks because the Master Christ first sent the holy Apostles to them as preachers.

Thus God also says through the Prophet: "I have given Thee as a covenant to the race of Israel, as a light to the nations" (Isa 42:6). He calls the Jews the race, because He came from them according to the flesh.

Next is Jesus Christ Himself, our Redeemer, Who by His merits and death acquired for us the right to salvation.

For "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that, having died to sins, by His wound we might be healed," that is, saved (1 Pet 2:24).

Finally, there is human faith, which appropriates to man the merits of the Savior and leads to justification (Mk 16:16; Jn 20:31).

"First for the Jew and also for the Greek." From the Greek point of view, the whole human race was divided into Greeks and barbarians.

From the Jewish point of view, it was divided into Jews and Greeks. Every non-Jew in the eyes of the Hebrew was a Greek, that is, a Gentile.

The Apostle placed the Jew first, "because the Master Christ first sends the holy Apostles to them as preachers" (Theodoret).

The Gospel is preached, and therefore salvation is offered, first to the Jews and then to the Greeks, or Gentiles.

This is because the Jews, "at many times and in many ways," were prepared through the prophets to receive the Messiah, and the Messiah Himself came from them (Heb 1:1).

Or, as the Apostle says, to the Israelites belonged adoption, glory, covenants, the giving of the Law, worship, and promises. Among them were the fathers, and from them Christ came according to the flesh (Rom 9:4-5).

Since the evangelical proclamation is announced to all without distinction of peoples, to Jews and Greeks, salvation, as the power contained in it, can be appropriated by all without prior merits.

As the Apostle says later, no one presented such merits. Therefore all were subject to the wrath of God and to punishment, which is abolished by grace.

Speaking about the manifestation of justification through faith in Jesus Christ, Blessed Theodoret writes: "God did not accomplish the divine economy of our salvation by authority. He did not crush the dominion of death by command or by word.

Rather, He mingled mercy with righteousness. And the Only-begotten Word of God Himself paid the common debt of all men."

Oecumenius observes that "God, taking our initial faith as a seed, causes it to grow. This will truly be the righteousness of God!"

Therefore believe and believe, Christian! Whoever believes will live a holy and righteous life. Without faith there is no true and righteous life, and no salvation.

Cornelius performed works of mercy, but he became truly alive when, according to his faith, the Holy Spirit descended upon him.

The Apostle speaks as if saying, even if you were so low in position within society or among other nations that fellowship with you would be shameful, I would still not be ashamed to preach the Gospel to you.

My duty is not to distinguish persons, but to sow the word of the Gospel, provided only that ears are open to hear, whoever they may belong to.

Second, I am not ashamed to come to you with such a Gospel. You are so exalted, while the word of the Gospel is so simple and at first appears so unfitting that it seems not to suit you.

Yet I am not ashamed to offer it. However exalted the hearers may be, I always preach Christ crucified with boldness, though I know that this is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks (cf. 1 Cor 1:23).

Saint Chrysostom says, “The Romans were excessively attached to worldly things: wealth, dominion, victories, and even their emperors. They were greatly puffed up.

“But Paul had to preach Jesus, the supposed carpenter’s son, who was brought up in Judea in the house of an obscure woman, had no armor-bearers with Him, and acquired no money.

“On the contrary, He died with evildoers as a criminal and endured many different insults. It was natural that the Romans would be ashamed of all this, since they did not know the ineffable and great mysteries.

“Therefore the Apostle says, ‘I am not ashamed,’ thereby teaching them also not to be ashamed. For he knew that once they succeeded in this, they would soon reach greater things and would boast.

“Therefore, when you hear the question, ‘Do you really worship the Crucified One?’ do not be ashamed and do not lower your eyes. Rather, boast and glory.

“With a fearless gaze and head raised high, confirm your confession. If they ask, ‘So you worship the Crucified One?’ answer again, ‘Yes, but not an adulterer, not a parricide, not a child-murderer, such as all the pagan gods are.

“‘Rather, I worship Him who by the Cross conquered the demons and destroyed thousands of their sorceries.’ For the Cross is for us the work of ineffable love for mankind, the sign of great care.

“Moreover, since those who glory in rhetoric and are filled with worldly wisdom are puffed up, Paul says of himself, I have forever renounced such speculations and go to preach the Cross, and I am not ashamed of it.”

“For it is the power of God unto salvation.” This is why I am not ashamed. How can one who brings healing medicine to the sick be ashamed before them?

Or how can one who comes to help prisoners break their bonds be ashamed before them? The Gospel is not only a word, but also power.

Here we must understand by it not only the aggregate of the mysteries revealed in Christ Jesus, or the God-revealed New Testament truths, but the whole divine economy of human salvation in Christ Jesus.

The Apostles came everywhere with this, and they brought believers into it. They said to all: We are inexcusable sinners before God, and we have no salvation.

An incorruptible judgment awaits us, and after the judgment, punishment. But God had compassion on us and sent His Only-begotten Son.

He became incarnate and suffered for us, removing our guilt. After His Resurrection, He ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father.

From the Father He sent down the Holy Spirit, who renews all who believe in the Son and makes them strong to fulfill every good will of God and to be well pleasing to Him.

Thus, having labored here, they may be counted worthy of reception there, where the incarnate Son of God also is. This is the path of salvation for you.

Those who listened were inspired by hope and came into moral tension and readiness for everything. But if the Gospel were limited to this, this moral power would soon evaporate.

The life of each would again take on its former form, displeasing to God. Therefore the Gospel brought those who believed and were thus inspired to the mysteries, and in them renewed and filled them with gracious powers.

After the mysteries, the believer had not only inspiration, but was filled with a sense of strength. After several experiences, this passed into boldness that nothing could crush.

Everyone experienced this, but only after faith and the reception of grace in the mysteries. All believers were witnesses that the Gospel, the divine economy of salvation and the faith of Christ, truly is the power unto salvation.

At first glance, what power is there in this: Believe in the Crucified One, and you will be saved? But afterward it immediately opened and was felt. Only believe and receive the mysteries.

Christ’s humiliation, covering the power of the divine economy with impenetrable darkness, separated those who heard the Gospel from Christ the Lord by a whole abyss.

Faith scattered the darkness and carried them across this abyss. But how faith was born then, and is born now, is God’s mystery.

The Lord said that no one comes to Him unless the heavenly Father draws him. This was so then, and it is so now, among those who bear the name of Christ and those who do not. For even among Christians, not all are Christians.

Therefore, for whoever passed this first barrier, the power of the Gospel was immediately revealed. At first it appeared humbled.

A mustard seed is small and cold. But whoever bites and chews it immediately feels how great is the force of its burning.

Blessed Theodoret explains the mystery of the Gospel’s power by a similar comparison. He writes, “The Apostle says, I do not look at the seeming dishonor, but at the benefit that comes from it.

“For those who believe reap salvation in it. So also in many sensible things their own power is hidden.

“Pepper has a cold exterior and shows no small sign of its heating property to those who do not know it. But whoever chews it with his teeth feels its inflaming power, like fire.

“Therefore physicians call potentially heating what is not so in appearance, but can prove to be so. So also a grain of wheat can become root, straw, and ear, but it does not appear so until it is sown in the furrows of the earth.

“Therefore the divine Apostle rightly called the saving preaching the power of God, since its power is revealed to believers alone and grants salvation.”

Saint Chrysostom also says, “How is the Gospel the power of God? Hear what follows: ‘to everyone who believes.’ Not simply to all, but to those who receive it.

“Whether you are a Greek, whether you are immersed in every vice, whether a Scythian, a barbarian, a true beast, deprived of every title and burdened with thousands of sins, as soon as you receive the word of the Cross and are baptized, you blot out everything.”

The Gospel is the power unto salvation to everyone who believes. Yet the Apostle says, “to the Jew first.” He placed the Jews before the Greeks because Christ is from them, the Apostles are from them, and they guarded the promises, as Blessed Theodoret says.

But in the work of salvation they have nothing extra. Access to Christ the Lord is open to all, and everyone receives from Him everything appointed according to the divine economy of salvation.

Fleshly origin has no influence on this. If there is a measure, it is determined by faith.

Saint Chrysostom says, “Why then does Paul say here, ‘to the Jew first and also to the Greek’? In what does this difference consist?

“He himself often said that circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. How then does he now make a distinction and place the Jew above the Gentile?

“What does this mean? The first does not receive more grace merely because he is first. The same gift is given to the Jew and to the Gentile, and the word ‘first’ indicates only order.

“The Jew does not receive more justification, but is only counted worthy to receive it first. All who are illumined come to baptism, but not all are baptized at the same time.

“Yet although one is first and another second, the first receives no more than the second, nor the second more than the one following him. On the contrary, one and the same thing is given to all.

“Therefore the word ‘first’ here expresses precedence in the order of speech, and not any superiority in grace.”