ACC ~ Romans 1 v11

IMPARTING SOME SPIRITUAL GIFT. ORIGEN: First of all we must learn that it is an apostolic duty to seek fellowship with our brothers for no reason other than to share some spiritual gift with them if we can, or if we cannot, to receive some spiritual gift from them. Otherwise a desire to visit the beloved is hardly commendable. When Paul says “that I might impart to you some spiritual gift” he seems to imply that there is something which may be called a gift but which is not spiritual. For the gift of faith is undoubtedly spiritual, as is the gift of wisdom, of knowledge, of virginity. But when he speaks of marriage and of virginity, saying: “But each one has his own gift from God, some this one, some that,” he says that marriage is a gift, since it is written: “The woman was given to the man by God,” but this gift is not, strictly speaking, a spiritual gift. Many other things may also be called gifts of God, e.g., riches and bodily strength, physical beauty and earthly power. These things are also given by God, as Daniel says: “He removes kings and sets up kings,”but they are not spiritual gifts. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

GOD’S GIFT TO YOU. AMBROSIASTER: This confirmation requires three persons: God, as helper; the apostle as minister and the people as receiver. Thus he now shows the will of his desire and what his wish for them is. For when he says: “that I might impart some spiritual gift to you,” he means that the Romans have followed carnal ideas, because in the name of Christ they have not followed what Christ taught but those things which had been handed down to them by the Jews. But he wants to come to them as quickly as possible in order to take them beyond that tradition and bestow on them a spiritual gift, that he might win them for God, making them partakers of spiritual grace, that they might be perfect in faith and behavior. From this we learn that he had not praised the content of their faith in the preceding verses but their readiness and devotion to Christ. For calling themselves Christians, they acted just as if they were under the law, as that had been handed down to them. For the mercy of God had been given for this reason, that they should cease from the works of the law, as I have often said, because God, taking pity on our weakness, decreed that the human race would be saved by faith alone, along with the natural law.

When he admonishes them in writing and draws them away from carnal thoughts, when he says that his presence is necessary in order to impart a spiritual grace to them, what does this mean? Isn’t what he writes also spiritual? He does not want his teaching to be applied in a way he does not intend, for that is what happens with heretics. So he desires to be present with them and pass on to them the gospel teaching in the precise sense in which he writes it, lest by the authority of his letter their error should be confirmed and not removed. If he were with them he would be able to convince them by power, if words failed to persuade them. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

HIS PRESENCE REQUIRED IN IMPARTING THE GIFT. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Paul showed by his longing to see them that his desire was genuine, and by his eagerness to share, that the Romans’ spiritual gift was not something private but that he himself would be the one who would impart it. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

THE CHARACTER OF PAUL’S TEACHING. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul did not travel for no reason, as so many do nowadays, but for a specific and very urgent purpose. And he does not tell them his meaning openly but rather hints at it, for he does not say: “that I may teach you, that I may instruct you, that I may fill up that which is wanting,” but: “that I may impart this spiritual gift,” showing that it was not his own things which he was giving them but what he had himself received. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 2.

CONFIRMING PETER’S PREACHING. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Paul says that he wants to strengthen the Romans, who held their faith from the preaching of Peter, not because they had received something inferior from Peter but that their faith would be strengthened by the witness and teaching of both apostles. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

SHARING WHAT HE HAS RECEIVED. THEODORET OF CYR: These words are full of humility. … Paul only wants to share what he has himself received. And because the great Peter was the first to have taught them, Paul adds that he merely wants to confirm them in the teaching which has already been given to them and to water the trees which have already been planted. Once again, his speech is full of modesty. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

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