Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies.
All Commentaries on Romans 8:33 Go To Romans 8
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
After showing that the holy ones God advances can suffer no loss, as though from the evil of punishment [n. 710], the Apostle now shows that they can suffer no loss as though from the evil of guilt. First, he presents his proposition; secondly, he excludes an opposite view [v. 34; n. 718]. In regard to the first it should be noted that a person suffers injury for guilt from two sources: first, from an accusation; secondly, from the judge who condemns [n. 717]. First, therefore, he shows that no accusation can harm God’s holy ones, and this by reason of divine election. For whoever chooses a person seems by that very fact to approve him. But the saints are chosen by God: "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy" (Eph 1:4). On the other hand, whoever accuses, disapproves of the one accused. Therefore he says: Who shall bring any charge, i.e., successfully, against the elect, i.e., against those God has chosen to be saints; hence it says in Rev (12:10): "For the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down." 717. Secondly, he shows that no accusation can be harmful to the saints. He shows this by referring to another of God’s benefits, namely, that God justifies us. This benefit is mentioned when he says: It is God who justifies us, in keeping with what he had said above (v.30): "Those whom he called he also justified"; "You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 6:11) But condemnation finds a place against the unjust: Who, then, is to condemn those justified by God: "When he is quiet, who can condemn" (Jb 34:29). 351 718. Then (v. 34b) he excludes an opposite view. For someone could fear that a person might be accused by Jesus Christ as a violator of Christ’s commandment in the same way as the Lord says of Moses: "It is Moses who accuses you, on whom you set your hope" (Jn 5:45); and also that he might be condemned by him, for "He is the one ordained by God to judge the living and the dead" (Ac 10:42). Furthermore, he is immune to sin: "Who did no sin" (1 Pt 2:22); consequently, he seems qualified to accuse and condemn, as it says in Jn (8:7): "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." And so he says, Christ Jesus. As if to say: Will Christ Jesus make accusations against God’s elect or even condemn them? And he says, not so; because even according to his human nature he confers great benefits on the saints, just as he also does according to his divinity. 719. Then he mentions four benefits from his humanity. First, from his death, when he says: he died, namely, for our salvation: "For Christ also died for sins once for all" (1 Pt 3:18). Secondly, from his resurrection, through which he vivifies us both with spiritual life now and with bodily life later. Hence he adds: yes, who rose from the dead. He says, yes, because it is preferable to commemorate him now for the power of his resurrection and for the weakness of his passion: "He was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God" (2 Cor 13:4). Thirdly, from his sitting with the Father when he says: who is at the right hand of God, i.e., equal to God the Father according to the divine nature and recipient of his choicest blessings according to his human nature. And this is also for our glory because, 352 as it says in Eph (2:6): "He made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." For inasmuch as we are his members, in him we sit with God the Father: "He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne" (Rev 3:21). Fourthly, from his intercession when he says: who indeed intercedes for us as our advocate: "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ" (1 Jn 2:1). But an advocate’s duty is not to accuse or condemn, but to repel an accuser and prevent condemnation. 720. Christ is said to intercede for us in two ways. In one way by praying for us, as it says in Jn (17:20): "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word." But now his intercession for us is his will that we be saved: "Father, I desire that they also may be with me where I am" (Jn 17:24). In another way he intercedes by presenting to his Father’s gaze the human nature assumed for us and the mysteries celebrated in it: "He entered into heaven itself to appear in the presence of God on our behalf" (Heb 9:24). 721. Then he draws the conclusion [n. 695]. But because this conclusion does not seem credible to the inexperienced, he presents it in the form of a question. Hence he does three things: first, he presents the question; secondly, he shows the need for this question [v. 36; n. 724]; thirdly, he presents the solution [n. 725]. 722. This question can be derived in two ways from the foregoing. 353 One way is this: So many and such powerful benefits have been conferred on us by God that no one can count them. Furthermore, they all tend toward one thing, namely, "that we be rooted and grounded in love" (Eph 3:17). Who, then, shall separate us from the love of Christ? i.e., the love by which we love Christ and neighbor as he commanded: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another" (Jn 13:34). Another way is this: God bestows great benefits on his holy ones, and when we consider them, such love of Christ burns in our hearts that nothing can quench it: "Many waters cannot quench love" (S of S 8:7). 723. He mentions the evils which might induce one to abandon love of Christ. And first, those that refer to life; secondly, the one which refers to death. In regard to those which threaten us in the course of our lives, he mentions present evils and evils to come. In regard to present evils he mentions evils to be endured; secondly, the loss of good things. Evils to be endured can be considered in two ways. In one way as they are present in the sufferer who is afflicted by them in two ways: first, externally in the body. Hence he says: tribulation. This word is related to "tribulus," a prickly herb: "Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you" (Gen 3:18). But the just are not overcome by them: "Many are the tribulations of the just, and the Lord frees them from all of these" (Ps 34:19). A person is also afflicted by them internally in the form of mental anxiety, when he does not know where to go or which way to turn. In regard to this he says: or distress: "I am hemmed in on every side, and I do not know what to choose" (Dan 13:21). 354 26 Augustine, Ennarationes in Ps. 34, sermon 2, n. 13. Again such evils can be considered as they are present in the one inflicting them. In this respect he says: or persecution, For although persecution in the strict sense would imply pursuit of someone to make him flee: "If they persecute you in one city, flee to another" (Mt 10:23), yet in a general sense it can mean the infliction of any injury. Then he mentions the evils which consist in the removal of good things necessary for life, namely, food and clothing: "If we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content" (1 Tim 6:8). In regard to the removal of food he says: or famine; of clothing: or nakedness: "To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad" (1 Cor 4:11). In regard to future evils he adds: or peril, threatening at any moment: "In danger from rivers, danger from robbers…" (2 Cor 11:26). In regard to death he says: or sword: "They were killed with the sword" (Heb 11:37). 724. Then (v. 36) he shows the importance of this question, inasmuch as he says that all these things lie at hand to be suffered by the saints for the love of Christ. And he quotes the words of the Psalmist as though spoken by the martyrs. These words mention, first of all, the cause of the suffering: "For it is not the suffering but the cause that makes the martyr," as Augustine says.26 Hence he says: for thy sake: "He who loses his life for my sake shall find it" (Mt 10:39); "Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief; yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed" (1 Pt 4:15). One suffers for Christ by suffering not only for the faith of Christ but for any righteous deed done for the love of Christ: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake" (Mt 5:10). 355 Secondly, he mentions the severity of the suffering when he says: we are being killed, i.e., handed over to death: "For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed" (Est 7:4). Thirdly, the duration of the persecution when he says: all the day long, i.e., during the whole period of life; "While we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake"(2 Cor 4:11). Fourthly, the persecutor’s readiness to kill when he says: we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered, i.e., marked to be killed in the meat market. So, too, the saints are intentionally killed: "The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God" (Jn 16:2); "Feed the flock doomed to slaughter" (Zech 11:4). 725. Then (v. 37) he answers the question. First he gives the answer saying: No, in all these things, namely, the evils mentioned above, we overcome, as long as we preserve our love unsullied: "In his arduous contest she gave him the victory" (Wis 10:12). But we do not succeed by our own strength but through Christ’s help; hence he adds: through him who loved us, i.e., on account of his help or on account of the affection we have for him; "not as though we first loved him, but because he first loved us" (1 Jn 4:19); "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 15:57). 726. Secondly, he clarifies the solution, showing that the saints’ love is insuperable. First he shows that it cannot be separated by creatures that exist; secondly, nor by creatures that do not exist but could [v. 39b; n. 733]. 356 727. In regard to the first he does two things. First he mentions things that exist in man, saying: I am sure that neither death, which is the first among things we fear, nor life, which is first among things we desire, can separate us from the love of God: "If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord" (Rom 14:8). In these two are included all the ones previously mentioned. For six evils previously mentioned refer to life; but one, namely, the sword, refers to death. 728. Then he mentions things outside of man. Among these are, first, spiritual creatures; hence he says: nor angels, i.e., the lower ones assigned to guard individual men: "He will give his angels charge of thee" (Ps 91:11). Nor principalities, i.e., those assigned to guard nations: "Now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I am through with him, the prince of Greece will come. And there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael" (Dan 10:20). He adds: nor powers, which is the highest order of ministering angels: "The powers of heaven will be shaken" (Lk 21:26). This can be understood in two ways: in one way of wicked angels, who struggle against the saints: "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers" (Eph 4:12). In another way it can refer to the good. Here Chrysostom in his book On Compunction of Heart says that the Apostle said this, not that the angels would at some time try to separate him from Christ; rather, these impossible things would be more possible, so to speak, than for him to be separated from the love of Christ. He speaks this way to show how great in him is the strength of divine love, and to lay everything out in the open. For this is the way of lovers, that they cannot hide their love 357 in silence but assert and bare it to their friends and to the beloved, and they cannot confine the flames within their heart. They speak of them frequently, so that by constantly recounting their love they may gain some relief, some cooling of the tremendous burning within them. In just this way blessed [Paul] here acts as an outstanding lover of Christ: he gathers up in one sentence all things that are and that were, everything that can be and even those that cannot. It is similar to what is said in Galatians chapter 1(:8), "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach to you another gospel than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed." 729. Then he mentions visible creatures, and he sets out two distinctions. First according to time, by which they are distinguished according to present and future. Hence he says: nor things present, whether they cause pain or pleasure: "We look not to the things that are seen" (2 Cor 4:18). Then he adds: nor things to come. Whether we fear them or desire them, they cannot separate us from the love of Christ. Hence it says in Ac (21:13): "For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." 730. Then he distinguishes visible creatures on the basis of magnitude: first he touches on magnitude of strength when he says: nor power, i.e., no strong creature, such as a raging fire or sea, can separate me from the love of Christ, because "love is as strong as death" (S of S 8:6). 731. Secondly, he mentions magnitude of dimension, describing them by what properly belongs to bodies, namely height and depth. Hence he says: nor height, from which someone might threaten to cast me headlong, as in Lk (4:29): "They led Jesus to the brow of the hill, that they might throw 358 him down headlong"; nor depth, in which someone might submerge me: "I sink in deep mire" (Ps 69:2). These three things can also be referred to the ways a person could turn a man away from God: in one way by the force of power: but as it says in 1 Sam (2:2): "No one is strong as our God." Secondly, by the lofty height of one’s authority; but "God is the highest of the kings of the earth" (Ps. 89:27). Thirdly, by the depth of one’s wisdom; but God’s knowledge is deeper: "Deeper than Sheol -- what can you know?" (Jb 11:8). 732. These two, height and depth, can be referred to adversity and prosperity, according to 2 Cor (6:7): "With the weapons of righteousness for the right and for the left." 733. With regard to creatures which do not exist but could, he says: nor anything else in all creation. According to Chrysostom, he says this about the things that are not, as though all things that are do not suffice, but he must so to speak challenge to battle even the things that are not. None of them, he says, will be able to separate us from the love of God: "Love never falls away" (1 Cor 13:8). This love of God is in Christ Jesus our Lord, because it was given to us through him, inasmuch as he gave it to us through the Holy Spirit: "I have come to cast fire on the earth and what will I but that it be kindled" (Lk 12:49). 734. But since it says in Ec (9:1): "A man does not know whether he is worthy of love or hatred, but all things are kept uncertain," why does the Apostle say that he is certain that nothing can separate him from the love of God? One can answer that the Apostle is not speaking of himself personally but is spokesman for all the predestined, about whom he declares that nothing can separate 359 them from the love of God because of the certainty of predestination. This certainty can be caused by the power of charity which, considering its nature, cannot be separated from certain persons, since it loves God above all things. Hence if a person falls away from love, it is not on account of a shortcoming in this virtue but on account of a defect in one’s free choice. But if Paul is speaking for himself, he could be certain of it only by a revelation, because it was said to him: "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Cor 12:9). For as to the outcome of free choice he says elsewhere: "Lest while speaking to others, I myself become a castaway" (1 Cor 9:27).
