Romans 8:38Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The meaning of his words is this. Why speak of present things and of the afflictions inseparable from this life? Even if someone pointed me to future states and powers, such as life and death, angels, archangels, and all the heavenly creatures, even this would be little to me compared with Christ's love.

If someone threatened me with future endless death, in order to separate me from Christ, or promised me endless life, I would not consent. Why, then, is there need to speak of earthly kings and rulers of peoples, whether this one or that?

If you point me to angels, to all the heavenly powers, to all that exists and all that is to come, everything is little to me compared with the love of Christ. Everything on earth, in heaven, beneath the earth, and above the heavens is little.

Then, since even this was insufficient to depict the strong love that the Apostle had, he set forth something else, just as great, and says: "nor any other creature." This means the following. Even if another creature existed like this one, both visible and intelligible, even then nothing would draw me away from that love.

The Apostle spoke this way not because angels or other heavenly powers truly drew him away from Christ. No. He wished to present in the highest degree the love he had for Christ. He loved Christ not for what belongs to Christ, but for Christ Himself.

He fixed his gaze on Him, and feared only one thing: to fall away from this love. To fall away from Christ's love was more terrible to him than Gehenna itself. To remain in that love was more desirable than the kingdom.

What, then, can we deserve, if the Apostle did not marvel at heavenly things compared with Christ's love, while we prefer to Christ what lies in mud and dust? Out of love for Christ he was ready to endure Gehenna and be deprived of the kingdom, if both stood before him. But we cannot even despise the present life.

Are we worthy even of the Apostle's shoes, being so far from the greatness of his spirit? For Christ's sake he counted even the kingdom as nothing. We despise Christ and attach great importance to what belongs to Christ.

It would be well if we valued at least what belongs to Christ. But now, having abandoned even this, and also the kingdom offered to us, we chase shadows and phantoms every day. Yet God, in His love for mankind and His greatest meekness, has done what a child-loving father does.

When such a father sees that frequent admonitions do not please his son, he wisely offers them in another way. Since we do not have proper love for God, He offers us many other things, in order to hold us close to Himself. Yet even with all this, we do not remain with Him, but flee from Him to childish games.

Paul was not like this. As a noble, free son who loves his father, he seeks only one thing: to be with the Father. He attaches little importance to the rest. Better yet, he far surpasses such a son.

He does not value the father and the father's possessions equally. When he turns his eyes to the father, he counts his possessions as nothing. He would prefer to suffer punishments and blows with him rather than rejoice far from him.

Let us therefore tremble, we who cannot despise money for God's sake, or rather, who cannot despise money for our own sake. Paul alone endured everything truly for Christ, not for the kingdom, not for honor, but out of love for Christ.

But neither Christ nor all that is Christ's draws us away from worldly occupations. Like serpents, vipers, or swine, or all these together, we crawl in the mud. In what way are we better than these animals, when, having so many great examples, we still look downward and cannot raise our eyes even slightly to heaven?

God delivered up His Son for you, but you do not give even bread to Him who was delivered up for you and slain for you. The Father did not spare Him for you. He did not spare His true Son. But you pay no attention to Him when He languishes with hunger, though you are preparing to squander His own property and squander it for yourself.

What could be worse than such iniquity? For your sake He was delivered up. For your sake He was slain. For your sake He wanders, suffering thirst. You give from His own property in order to receive benefit from it, yet even so you give nothing.

Are not those more insensible than any stone who, under so many compelling circumstances, remain in such devilish cruelty? Christ did not stop at death and the Cross. He was pleased to become poor, a stranger, homeless, naked, imprisoned, and sick, so that by this at least He might draw you to Himself.

If you do not repay Me for what I suffered for you, He says, then have pity on Me because of My poverty. If you do not wish to pity poverty, be moved by My sickness. Have compassion because of the bonds.

If even this does not incline you to love for mankind, then consider the ease of the request. I ask for nothing costly, only bread, shelter, and a consoling word. But if after this you remain hard, then become kinder at least for the sake of the kingdom, for the sake of the rewards I promised you.

Do even these mean nothing to you? Then bend in pity at least toward nature itself when you see Me naked, and remember the nakedness I endured for you on the Cross. If you do not wish to remember that, imagine the nakedness I endure in the person of the poor.

Then I was in need for your sake, and now again I am in need for your sake. Moved by one thing or the other, may you desire to show some mercy. For your sake I fasted, and again for your sake I endure hunger. I thirsted while hanging on the Cross, and I thirst in the person of the poor.

By one means or the other I seek to draw you to Myself. For your own salvation I seek to make you full of love for mankind. Therefore, though you owe Me repayment for countless benefits, I do not ask you as a debtor. I crown you as for a gift, and for this small thing I give you the kingdom.

I do not say: deliver Me from poverty, or give Me riches, though it was precisely for your sake that I became poor. I ask only for bread, clothing, and a little consolation in hunger.

When I am in prison, I do not force you to take off My chains and bring Me out of prison. I seek only one thing, that you visit the One bound for you. I receive this as a great mercy, and for this alone I give you heaven.

Though I delivered you from the heaviest chains, it is enough for Me if you wish to see Me bound. Of course, even without this I can crown you. Nevertheless, I wish to be your debtor, so that the crown may bring you some boldness.

Therefore, though I am able to feed Myself, I go about and ask. I stand at your doors and stretch out My hand. I desire to receive nourishment specifically from you, because I love you greatly. I long for your table, as happens among friends.

I boast of this before the face of the whole universe. I continually proclaim you in the hearing of all, and show everyone the one who feeds Me. When we are fed by someone, we are ashamed of it and usually hide it. But Christ, who loves us greatly, tells everyone what happened, even if we are silent, with many praises. He is not ashamed to say that we clothed Him when He was naked, and fed Him when He was hungry.

Having reflected on all this, let us not stop at praises alone, but fulfill our words in deed. What profit is there from this applause and noise? I require only one thing from you: proof in deeds, obedience in reality. This is my praise. This is your gain. This is brighter for me than a diadem.

Therefore, when you leave here, prepare a crown for yourselves and for me by the hands of the poor. Then in the present life we shall be nourished by good hope. And when we depart into the life to come, we shall attain innumerable blessings. May it be granted to all of us to receive them by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, dominion, and honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

And why do you speak to me of kings and tyrants? Neither angels, nor all the powers on high, nor things present, nor things to come, can turn us away from that love. Nor can height, that is, what is above you, nor depth, that is, what is in the earth, nor glory, nor dishonor. By height some understand the Kingdom of Heaven, and by depth the loss of it. Even if there were some other creature, visible or intelligible, even that would not draw me away from that love.

He expressed himself this way not because angels draw men away from Christ, but hypothetically, and because of his strong desire to show the highest degree of love for God. This is not the love of which the Jews boast, but the love Christians have. For although the Jews also say that they love God, they do not love Him in Christ Jesus, because they do not believe in Christ.

For, he says, one must not love God because of the promises of good things, but must desire even the good things for God’s sake. A man sincerely disposed toward some rich person does not love him because of the abundance of his wealth. Rather, because of his attachment to him, he also loves the possessions that belong to him. So too the divine Apostle says, “I would not agree to have the Kingdom of Heaven, and all things visible and intelligible, and the same again two and three times over, without love for God. But if someone offered me present and future sorrows, temporal and eternal death, and long-lasting torment in Gehenna, then with love for Him I would gladly and with all readiness prefer this to everything radiant, great, and surpassing every word, if in the latter case I would be deprived of love.”

Therefore let us also pray and strive to have this love. Following in the apostolic footsteps, may we be counted worthy of the apostolic dwellings, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ. With Him, to the Father, together with the All-Holy Spirit, belong glory and majesty, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Still, the meaning of the Apostle’s words changes little because of this. The Apostle wishes to show that no created powers, whether good or evil, can tear away those who love God from love for God. The mention of good angels and other beings cannot seem strange. Often a man becomes attached to relatives or other people, and even to valuable things and objects, and loves them more than God. In this way he separates himself from the love of God (Mt 10:37-38). People usually say that other people, possessions, pleasures, and the like draw a man to themselves.

With the teaching on love, the Apostle concludes this section, chapters 5-8, in which he depicted the actions of justification in man. Having shown its root in faith and its growth in hope (Rom 8:24), he also showed the fruit of this justification in love. Love again fastens together the bond between God and man that had been torn apart by sin, so that this bond can no longer be broken.

Nor things to come, that is, neither present nor any future sufferings, nor height, nor depth, that is, neither glory nor dishonor, nor any other creature, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The Apostle speaks of the good angels only hypothetically (Gal 1:8), and because of his strong desire to show the highest degree of love for God, as Theophylact says.

This striving comes through our appropriation of the saving justification accomplished by the Son and given through the Holy Spirit. Having in mind the foremost and most chosen Christians, the Apostle says that Christians are already truly filled with such great love.

The examples of many Apostles who had already suffered for the faith of Christ were clear proof of this. In the Apostle's final words one hears his own mighty readiness for martyrdom.

He calls all Christians not only to steadfastness and courage in afflictions, but also to martyrdom, unconquerable by anything and victorious over all. This remained so even though Christians were led to Rome like sheep to the slaughter.

They were led to be torn apart by the powerful claws of enraged tigers and lions. These beasts were deliberately released for this purpose into the vast arena of the Roman theater, the Colosseum, filled with bloodthirsty spectators.

"If those of the Old Testament," says St. John Chrysostom, "whose reward for their labors was the earth and what passes away with this present life, so despised the present life, trials, and calamities, what excuse shall we have?"

"We have heaven as our reward, the kingdom on high, and ineffable good things. What excuse shall we have if we grow faint in spirit and do not attain the same measure reached by those of the Old Testament?"

"Therefore do not lose faith that, when we are beaten, we overcome those who beat us. When we are driven out, we hold our persecutors in our power. When we die, we strike the living... The Apostles not only conquered, but made their victories a wonder..."

As the highest excellence of the life of grace, the Apostle points out that it is wholly founded on love and stands by love. By love we were predestined to salvation, called, justified, and glorified.

By the love of God, Jesus Christ suffered for us. Now, seated at the right hand of the Father, He mercifully intercedes for us. He will later judge all, and at last will bestow the whole fullness of glory corresponding to His glorified human nature.

Is it not clear that we must have such love for God that nothing could overcome it? In God there is for us such an abyss of blessedness that no attachments, no torments, and no powers should halt our striving toward God.

This striving comes through our appropriation of the saving justification accomplished by the Son and given through the Holy Spirit. Having in mind the foremost and most chosen Christians, the Apostle says that Christians are already truly filled with such great love.

The examples of many Apostles who had already suffered for the faith of Christ were clear proof of this. In the Apostle's final words one hears his own mighty readiness for martyrdom.

He calls all Christians not only to steadfastness and courage in afflictions, but also to martyrdom, unconquerable by anything and victorious over all. This remained so even though Christians were led to Rome like sheep to the slaughter.

They were led to be torn apart by the powerful claws of enraged tigers and lions. These beasts were deliberately released for this purpose into the vast arena of the Roman theater, the Colosseum, filled with bloodthirsty spectators.

"If those of the Old Testament," says St. John Chrysostom, "whose reward for their labors was the earth and what passes away with this present life, so despised the present life, trials, and calamities, what excuse shall we have?"

"We have heaven as our reward, the kingdom on high, and ineffable good things. What excuse shall we have if we grow faint in spirit and do not attain the same measure reached by those of the Old Testament?"

"Therefore do not lose faith that, when we are beaten, we overcome those who beat us. When we are driven out, we hold our persecutors in our power. When we die, we strike the living... The Apostles not only conquered, but made their victories a wonder..."

He presents his own conviction. Yet, knowing that he is not alone in this, he declares the unshakable fidelity common to all who, like him, are inspired by love for God.

He does this to inspire all Christians in every age toward the same love and the same confidence. I am certain that whoever has once tasted true love for God can no longer be torn from it.

Such a person will not exchange it for anything. He will not allow his heart to cling to anything besides God. With this the Apostle completes his indication of the foundations of hope on man's side, in loving and unshakable fidelity to God.

He does not give a command, but expresses his inspired zeal. Inspiration, as a rule, carries along all who see one inspired. As for the list of what might draw one away from the love of God, the Apostle intended to express only one thought.

No one and nothing can draw away from God the man who has loved Him. Nothing can do this among all that exists, or that can be imagined to exist, apart from God.

Therefore there is no need to dwell with special attention on the things he names. Our commentators do not attempt to define them with precision, but present only a general picture of the whole.

Thus blessed Theodoret writes: "Having placed the whole creation together on the scales against the love of God, and having added the intelligible to the visible, he adds expected blessings to present blessings."

"He even adds threatened punishments. By 'depth,' I think, he means Gehenna, and by 'height,' the Kingdom. Besides this, he adds eternal life and eternal death."

"Seeing that all this is still insufficient, the Apostle seeks what else he might add. Finding no other creation of this kind, he presents in words even creation taken many times over."

"He sees that all this does not equal the love of God. It is as though he says: I would not consent to have the Kingdom of Heaven without love for God, or in place of love for Him."

"Nor would I consent to have all that is visible and intelligible, even if the same were doubled and tripled. If someone offered me present and future afflictions, temporal and eternal death, and everlasting torment in Gehenna, I would choose these."

"With love for God, I would willingly and with all readiness prefer them to everything splendid, great, and beyond all words, if in possessing the latter I were deprived of love."

So St. Chrysostom says: "Lofty are these words, but we do not comprehend 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 someone should point me to future states and powers, even that is little to me in comparison with the love of Christ. If someone threatened me with future endless death to separate me from Christ, I would not consent."

"Nor would I consent if he promised me endless life for this. Will you point me to Angels, to all the powers on high, to all that exists, and to all that is to come?"

"In comparison with the love of Christ, all is little to me. This includes all that is on earth, in heaven, under the earth, and above the heavens."

"As though even this were insufficient to portray the powerful love that possessed the Apostle, he presents something else, equal to what came before, and says, 'nor any other creature.'"

"This means that, if there were another creation like this one, both visible and intelligible, even then nothing would draw me away from this love."

"The Apostle spoke this way not because Angels or other heavenly powers would truly begin to draw him away from Christ. He wished only to present in the highest degree the devotion he had toward Christ."

"He did not love Christ for what belonged to Christ. On the contrary, he loved all that was Christ's for the sake of Christ Himself. To Him alone he directed his gaze."

"He feared only one thing: to fall away from this love. To fall away from the love of Christ was more terrible to him than Gehenna itself. To abide in love was more desirable than the Kingdom."