Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
All Commentaries on Romans 10:1 Go To Romans 10
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
After showing how the Gentiles have been called to faith by the election of God's grace and also some of the Jews, i.e., a minority who did not stumble and fall [n. 735], the Apostle now discusses in more detail the fall of the Jews. In regard to this he does three things: first, he explains the cause of their fall, over which he laments; secondly, he shows that their fall is not universal, in chapter 11 [n. 859]; thirdly, that it is neither unprofitable nor irreparable [11:11; n. 878]. In regard to the first he does two things: first, he shows that their fall is lamentable, considering its cause; secondly, that it is not wholly inexcusable [v. 18; n. 845]. In regard to the first he does two things: first, he shows that he feels pity for the Jews; secondly, the cause of his pity [v. 2; n. 815]. 814. First, therefore, he says: I have said that the Jews have not attained the law of righteousness, because they stumbled over the stumbling-block. But I am not indignant against them; rather, I feel compassion. And, therefore, I say to you, brethren, whether you be converts from the Gentiles or from the Jews: "You are all brethren" (Mt 23:8), my heart's desire is for their salvation, namely, that they be saved, as I have been saved: "I wish that all were as I myself am" (1 Cor 7:7); " would to God that all who hear me this day might become such as I am" (Ac 26:29). In this he was conformed to God, "Who desires all men to be saved" (1 Tim 2:4). Not only his will but his prayer were directed to their salvation, but even the affection of his will, hence, he adds: and y prayer for them is that they may be saved: 407 "Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you" (1 Sam 12:23); "Pray for one another that you may be saved" (Jan 5:16). This makes it clear that we should pray for unbelievers that they may be saved, because faith is a gift from God: "By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God" (Eph 2:8). 815. Then when he says, I bear them witness, he discloses the cause of his compassion, namely, because they sinned from ignorance, not from set malice. In regard to this he does three thing. First, he cites their ignorance; secondly, he shows the area of their ignorance [v. 3; 817]; thirdly, he proves the truth of those matters about which they were ignorant [v. 5; n. 820]. 816. First, therefore, he says: I desire and pray for their salvation and I grieve for them, because I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, i.e., out of zeal for God they persecute Christ and His members: "The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God" (Jn 16:2). He is a good witness to this, because he himself had once been in a similar state of mind: "As to zeal a persecutor of the Church" (Phil 3:6), but not according to knowledge, namely, because their zeal was not guided by correct knowledge as long as they were ignorant of the truth: "Therefore, my people go into exile for want of knowledge" (Is 5:13); "If anyone does not recognize this, he will not be recognized" (I Cor 14:38). 817. Then when he says, For, being ignorant, he shows wherein they were ignorant: 408 first, he makes his statement; secondly, he explains it [v. 4; n. 819]. 818. First, therefore, he says: I am right in saying that it was not according to knowledge; for being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, i.e., by which God justifies them through faith: "The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ" (Rom 3:22), and seeking to establish their own righteousness, which consists in the works of the Law, which in their opinion awaited nothing from God but depended solely on the decision of the performer. Consequently, he describes their righteousness as human and not divine, as he says above (12:2): "If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about" before men, "But not before God." For they did not submit to God's righteousness, i.e., they refused to be subject to Christ through faith in whom men are made just by God: "Only in God is my soul at rest" (Ps 63:1); "That the whole world may be subject to God" (Rom 3:19); "How long do you refuse to submit to me?" (Ex 10:3). 819. Then when he says, Christ is the end of the law, he explains what he had said, namely, that they are ignorant of God's righteousness and refuse to submit to Him, while they seek to establish their own righteousness based on the Law. In regard to this it should be noted that, even as the philosophers say, the intention of any lawgiver is to make men virtuous: much more, then, the Old Law given by God to men was directed toward making men virtuous. But the Law was unable to do this of itself, because "the law made nothing perfect" (Heb 7:19); rather, it ordained men to Christ Whom it promised and prefigured: 409 "The law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might justified by faith" (Gal 3:24). And that is what he says, namely, that the end of the law is Christ, to whom the whole Law is ordained: "I have seen the end of all perfection" (Ps 119:96); the end that through Christ men may attain the righteousness the Law intended: "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us" (Rom 8:3-4). And this to everyone that has faith, because he justified his own by faith: "To all who believed in his name he gave power to become children of God" (Jn 1:12). 820. Then when he says, Moses writes, he proves the truth of those things about which the Jew were ignorant, namely, that God's righteousness is more perfect than that of the Law; and this he shows on the authority of Moses, the lawgiver of the Old Law. First therefore he shows by his words the condition of legal justice; Second, he shows the condition of the justice of faith [n. 823]. 821. First, therefore, he says: I have correctly distinguished human righteousness from God's righteousness, for Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it, where my text has: "Keep my laws and judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them" and (Ez 20:13): "They cast away my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them," namely, because by observing the Law a man obtained the advantage of not being killed as a transgressor of the Law: "A man who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy" (Heb 10:28); "Everyone who curses his father or his mother shall be put to death" (Lev 20:9), and so on for the other commandments. 410 822. We can also say that by observing the Law a man was regulated in the present life, for the Law promised temporal goods and commanded things "which were bodily regulations imposed until a time of reformation" (Heb 9:10). But all this seems contrary to what the Lord answered the person asking Him: "What good deed must I do to have eternal life?" (Mt 19:16); for He answered: "If you would enter life, keep the commandments" (Mt 19:17). Hence, a Gloss on Romans (5:20): "Law came in," says that righteousness based on the Law conferred not only temporal benefits but also eternal life. But Christ's words must be understood according to the spiritual sense of the Law, a sense which refers to faith in Him. But Paul's words refer to the inward sense of the Law according to which the Law makes no mention of eternal life. 823. Then when he says, But the righteousness based on faith, he quotes Moses on righteousness based on faith. First, Moses shows the certitude of faith which ought to be in man's heart; secondly, the effect of faith [v. 8; n. 826]. 824. First, therefore, he says: Moses speaks not only of the righteousness based on the Law, but also of that based on faith. But the righteousness based on faith says, i.e., speaks thus in a man's heart: "Who ascends into heaven and descends?" (Pr 30:4). Who will ascend into heaven? For to hold that this is impossible is to bring Christ down from heaven, i.e., to assert that Christ is not in heaven, which is against what it says in Jn (3:13): "No one has ascended into heaven but the Son of man who descended from heaven. 411 Or again do not say, "Who will descend into the abyss? i.e., into hell, as though considering this impossible; for to deny this is to bring Christ up from the dead, i.e., to deny that Christ died. For after dying He descended into the abyss: "I will penetrate to all the lower parts of the earth" (Sir 24:41). 825. This explanation prevents any doubt about two articles of Christian faith, namely Christ's ascension and his death and descent into hell, the first of which pertains to his supreme exaltation and the second to his lowest humiliations. But it can be explained in another way as giving us certainty about tow other articles: first, the incarnation, in which He descended from heaven to earth. Then the sense is: Do not say in your heart: "Who will ascend into heaven to bring Christ down?" As if to say: This was not necessary, because He came down of His own power. Secondly, of the resurrection, when he continues: Or do not say: "Who will descend into the abyss to bring Christ up from the dead?" as if to say: He descended there, so that he might call Christ thence, as is said in the person of the fool in Wis 2(:1), "No man has been known to return from hell." This explanation accords with the words of Moses in Dt (30:11): "This commandment that I command you this day is not above you, nor far off from you. Nor is it in heaven, that you should say: 'Which of us can go up to heaven to bring it to us?'" Nor is it unseemly, if the Apostle attributes to Christ what Moses said of the commandments of the Law; because Christ is the Word of God in which are all God's commandments. Therefore, one must interpret what he is saying, namely, Who will ascend into heaven to bring Christ down? as if he were saying: "Who can ascend into heaven to bring God's word to us?" and the same must be said in the other which follows. 412 826. Then when he says, But what does the Scripture say, he shows the fruit of faith on the same authority: first, he quotes the authority; secondly, he explains [v. 8b; n. 829]; thirdly, he proves that the explanation is fitting [v. 9; n. 830]. 827. First, therefore he says: But what does the Scripture say? It says this: The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart. For this is what follows after the aforementioned words in Deuteronomy (30:14): The word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart. As if to say: do not suppose that you are lacking the word of justifying faith, just because Christ is in heaven according to His divine nature and descended into hell after the death of His human nature. For in descending from heaven and rising from the dead, He impressed the word of faith on your lips and in your heart. 828. Hence the statement that the word is near you can be referred to the fact that we have obtained God's word through Christ's birth and resurrection: "It was declared at first by the Lord" (Heb 2:3); "Behold, I have given my words in your mouth" (Jer 1:9). Or, according to the Gloss, the word near should be understood with reference to usefulness, as we say something is "near" us when it is expedient or useful to us. For our heart is cleansed by the word of God: "Now you are clean because of the word which I have spoken to you" (John 15:3). Or it can be referred to the fact that the words of faith, even though they are above reason: "I have given my words in your mouth" (Jer 1:9). "Many things are shown to thee 413 above the understanding of men" (Sir 3:25) but they are not contrary to reason, because truth cannot be contrary to truth. "Thy decrees are very sure" (Ps. 93:5). 829. Then when he says, This is the word, he explains the above words. First, he shows what that word is about which Moses speaks, saying, This is the word of faith which we preach. "Preach the word" (2 Tim 4:2); "He that has my word, let him speak my word with truth" (Jer 23:28). Secondly, he explains how this word is on the lips by confession and in the heart by faith. And this is what he says" confess with your lips that Jesus Christ is Lord, i.e., recognize Him as Lord by submitting your will to Him; and believe in your heart with complete faith which works through love, that God raised him from the dead, because, as it says in 2 Cor (13:4): "He rose by the power of God," which is common to Him and to the Father, you will be saved: "Israel is saved in the Lord with an eternal salvation" (Is 45:17). When he says, Jesus is Lord, he is referring to the mystery of the incarnation; when he says, Christ, the reference is to the resurrection.
