For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
All Commentaries on Romans 8:18 Go To Romans 8
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
After proving that we are freed through the grace of Christ [n. 650], the Apostle now assigns the cause of the postponement of immortal life, which is the 323 inheritance of the children of God, namely, that it is necessary for us to suffer with Christ in order to reach the fellowship of his glory. But because someone might say that such an inheritance is burdensome, since it cannot be obtained except by enduring suffering, he shows the superiority of future glory over the sufferings of the present life: first he states his proposition; secondly, he proves it [v.19; n. 656]. 653. First, therefore, he says: It has been stated that it is necessary for us to suffer in order to be glorified, and that we should not reject sufferings, if we would have glory. For I, who have experienced both, consider: "A man of much experience will speak with understanding" (Si 34:9). He endured many sufferings: "with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings" (2 Cor 11:23) and was a beholder of future glory: "Caught up into Paradise, he heard things that cannot be told" (2 Cor 12:3). This I consider, namely, that the sufferings of this time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 654. Herein he mentions four things to show the excellence of that glory. First, he designates its eternity when he says: the glory that is to be, namely, after the present time; but there is nothing after the present time except eternity. Hence that glory surpasses the sufferings of this time as the eternal surpasses the temporal: "For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison" (2 Cor 4:17). Secondly, he designates its dignity when he says: glory, which suggests a splendor of dignity: "Let the faithful exult in glory" (Ps 149:5). 324 Thirdly, he designates how it will be manifested when he says: to be revealed. For the saints have glory now, but it is hidden in their conscience: "Our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience" (2 Cor 1:12). But later that glory will be revealed in the sight of all, both good and bad, about whom Wis (5:2) says: "They will be amazed at his unsuspected salvation." Fourthly, he designates its truth when he says: in us. For the glory of this world is vain, because it is based on things outside a person, namely, in the trappings of wealth and in the opinion of men: "They boast of the abundance of their riches" (Ps 49:6). But that glory will be based on something within a man, as it says in Lk (17:21): "The kingdom of God is within you." 655. Thus, the sufferings of this life, if they are considered in themselves, are slight in comparison to the quantity of this glory: "For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you" (Is 54:7). But if these sufferings are considered insofar as they are voluntarily endured for God out of love, which the Holy Spirit produces in us, then man merits eternal life ex condigno through them. For the Holy Spirit is a fountain whose waters, i.e., effects, well up to eternal life, as it says in Jn (4:14). 656. Then (v.19b) he proves his proposition by the excellence of that glory: first, by the eager longing of the creature; secondly, by the eager longing of the apostles [v. 23; n. 675]. In regard to the first he does two things: first, he mentions the eager longing of the creature; secondly, he manifests it [v. 20; n. 661]. 325 657. First, therefore, he says: It has been stated that future glory exceeds present sufferings. Yet this is obvious, for the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God: "We are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be" (1 Jn 3:2). For the dignity of divine sonship is hidden in the saints on account of the things they suffer outwardly; but that dignity will be revealed later, when they receive immortal and glorious life, and when the wicked will say: "Behold how they have been numbered among the sons of God" (Wis 5:5). And he says that the eager longing eagerly longs to designate by such repetition the intensity of the eager longing, in accord with Ps 39:1, "Eagerly longing I have eagerly longed for the Lord." 658. It should be noted that creation or "creature" can be interpreted in three ways here. In one way for just men, who are called God’s creature in a special way, either because they continue in the good in which they were created, or on account of their excellence, because every creature somehow serves them: "Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures" (Jas 1:18). But this creature, i.e., the just man, waits for the revealing of the sons of God as a reward promised him: "Awaiting the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God" (*** 2:23). 659. Secondly, the creature can be human nature itself, which is the substratum of the goods of grace. In the unrighteous this nature is not yet sanctified but is as though without form. 326 In the men who have already been justified it is partially formed now with grace, but it is still, as it were, without form and awaits the final form which comes through glory. Thus, therefore, this creature, i.e., we ourselves, in virtue of our human nature wait for the revealing of the sons of God. We also wait for this in virtue of the grace received into our nature, as we might say that matter waits for its form or colors wait for the completed picture: "All the days of my service I would wait till my release should come" (Jb 14:14). In a third way it can be understood of the visible creature, as are the elements of this world: "From the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator" (Wis 13:5) [n. 665, 668]. This sort of creature waits for something in two ways, for the eager longing of a sensible creature, according as it has its origin in God, is ordered to some end. And this happens in two ways. In one way, inasmuch as God endows this creature with a natural form and powers that incline it to some natural end. Thus we might say that a tree waits for is fruit to be produced or that fire waits for its higher natural place. In another way the visible is ordained by God to an end which transcends its natural form. For just as the human body will be clothed with the form of supernatural glory, so all visible creation in that glory of the children of God will itself obtain a new glory: "I saw a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev 21:1). In this way the visible creature waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 661. Then (v.20) he explains this waiting: 327 first, the need to wait; secondly, its terminus [v. 21; n. 66]; thirdly, the sign of waiting [v. 22; n. 670]. 662. Now the need to wait is due to a defect to which the creature is subject. For a thing subject to no defect has no need to wait for something. He shows the creature’s defect when he says: for the creature was subjected to vanity. 663. If by creature is understood the just man, he is understood to be subject to vanity, i.e., to those bodily things which are changeable and inclined to fail. Hence they are called vain: "Vanity of vanities. All is vanity" (Ec 1:2). But it is subjected to them, because the needs of the present life require that he occupy himself with them, not of his own will, because he does not love such temporal things as those do against whom it is said in Ps 4 (v.3): "How long will you love vanity and seek after lies?" But this creature is subjected to such vanity by the will of him, i.e., by God’s ordinance, who subjected it, i.e., the just man, to these visible creatures; but in hope, name1y, that at some time he will be freed from such occupation "in the resurrection" when "they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven" (Mt 22:30). 664. If by creature is understood human nature itself [n. 659], then such a creature is subjected to vanity, i.e., to changeableness; "Every man stands as a mere breath" (Ps 39:5). Not of its own will, because such vanity is inflicted on human nature as a punishment; but punishment is involuntary just as guilt is voluntary. But human nature is subjected to such sufferings by the will of him, i.e., by the sentence of God, who subjected 328 it, namely, human nature, to defects, but nevertheless in hope of the time when such sufferings will be avoided: "The thresher shall not thresh it forever" (Is 28:28). 665. But if by creature is understood the sensible creation [n. 660], then such creation was subjected to futility, i.e., to changeability, but not of its own will. For the defects which follow on changeableness, such as aging and ceasing to be and the like, are contrary to the particular nature of this or that thing which seeks self-preservation, although they are in keeping with the general nature of things. Nevertheless, the visible creature is subjected to such vanity by the ordinance of God who subjected it in hope, i.e., in expectation of a glorious renewal a was stated above. 666. Then (v.21) he indicates the terminus of this waiting. For its waiting or hope is not in vain, because the creature itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. If by creature is meant the just man, its bondage to decay means his care in seeking food and clothing and the other things which serve our mortal life. This is a form of slavery from which the saints are freed, as they struggle toward the liberty of the children of God. Although they have the liberty of righteousness by which they are released from the slavery of sin, they do not yet have the liberty of glory, which is release from the slavery of misery: "Who has let the wild ass go free?" (Jb 39:5). 667. If by creature is meant human nature, it will be set free from its bondage to decay, i.e., from suffering and decay, and tend toward the glorious liberty of the children of God, which is freedom not only from guilt but from death, as it says in 1 Cor (15:54): "Death is swallowed up in victory." 329 668. But if it is taken for the visible creature, then that creature will be set free from its bondage to decay, i.e., changeableness: because in every change there is an element of decay, as Augustine says and the Philosopher too in Physics VIII this will contribute to the glorious liberty of the children of God, because just as they will be renewed, so will their dwelling place be renewed: "I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered," i.e., the former changeableness of the creature (Is 65:l7). 669. But he says, the creation itself will be set free from its bondage. According to one sense it means not only we Apostles, but also the other just. In the second sense it means not only the just but human nature, too. In a third sense: not only men but other creatures. 670. Then (v.22) he presents the sign of this waiting, saying: We know, namely, the apostles instructed by the Holy Spirit and also by experience, that every creature has been groaning in travail together until now. 671. If this is understood of the visible creature, it presents two difficulties. First, because he says, groans in travail, for this seems to fit only the rational creature. But this can be explained so that "groan" is the same as the previous expression, "not of its own will." For we groan against things repugnant to our will. Therefore, inasmuch as the defects of the visible creature are contrary to the natural desire of a particular nature, the visible creature is said to groan. When he says, in travail, it is the same as the previous expression, "awaits." For travail is part of the process of producing offspring. 330 672. The second difficulty lies in the fact that he says, every creature, because that would include the heavenly bodies; hence a Gloss says that the sun and moon do not complete their assigned span without labor. But this must be explained in such a way that labor is taken for motion, just as rest is sometimes taken for cessation from work, as God is said to have rested on the seventh day. Accordingly, by groaning is understood decay, which is an element of local motion, inasmuch as a body ceases to be in one place and begins to be in another. By travail is understood the destiny of heavenly bodies to be renewed. 673. But if it is understood of men, then human nature is said to be every creature, because it shares something with every creature: with the spiritual creature it shares intellect, with the animal it shares bodily life, with the corporeal creature it shares bodily existence. Therefore, this creature, i.e., man, groans, partly because of the evils it suffers and partly because of the good things it hopes for but are delayed: "Many are my groans" (Lam 1:22). It is in travail, because it endures with affliction of soul the postponement of the glory it awaits: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick" (Pr 13:12); "A woman in travail has sorrow" (Jn 16:21); "Anguish as of a woman in travail" (Ps 48:6). 674. He says, until now, because this groaning was not removed when we were made righteous, but it remains until now, i.e., until death. Or until now, i.e., even though those in glory have been set free, the rest of us still remain. Or until now, because not only the ancient fathers who lived before Christ, but we also who did not live until the time of grace, suffer the same things. In 2 Pt (3:4) scoffers are described as saying: "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation." 331 It should be noted that "God’s creature" can mean everything under God. Hence some try to explain the above words about every creature in such a way as to include angels. But it is quite awkward to suppose that they are subjected to futility or that they groan or are in travail, because they already have the glory, the likeness of which we await, for it says in Mt (22:30): "They will be as the angels in heaven." Therefore, ours is a more suitable explanation.
