ACC ~ Romans 5 v20

THE INCLINATION TO EXCESS. ORIGEN: What Paul means here is that after the natural law had already been established—the law which he calls the law of the mind, which assents to the law of God—another law arose, the law of our members, which promotes the lusts of the flesh and leads men captive, inclining them to desire and excesses, so that sin may abound in them. . . .

Grace abounded all the more, because not only does it absolve us from the sins which we have already committed, it protects us against sinning in the future. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

AMBROSE: When evil had appeared and innocence had been destroyed, there was no one to do good, not even one. The Lord came to restore grace to nature, in fact to give it increase, that where sin abounded, grace might more abound. LETTER 25.

THE HARM OF KNOWING WHAT I CANNOT AVOID. AMBROSE: Sin abounded by the law because through the law came knowledge of sin, and it became harmful for me to know what through my weakness I could not avoid. It is good to know beforehand what one is to avoid, but if I cannot avoid something, it is harmful to have known about it. Thus was the law changed to its opposite, yet it became useful to me by the very increase of sin, for I was humbled. LETTER 83.

THE LAW INCREASED THE TRESPASS. DIODORE: Paul does not mean that the law increased the incidence of sin but rather that once it was given it uncovered sin and showed that it was more widespread than people had thought. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

WHETHER THE LAW SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN GIVEN. AMBROSIASTER: An objector might say: “If the law merely served to increase sin, it should never have been given. If there was less sin before the law came, there was no need of the law.” Obviously the law was necessary to show that sins, which many thought they could get away with, actually counted before God and so that people might know what they ought to avoid.

How could the law have increased sin, when it warns people not to sin? … The law began to show an abundance of sins, and the more it forbade them the more people committed them. That is why it is said that the law was given so that sin might increase. . . .

In order to nullify the pride of Satan, who rejoiced in his victory over man, the just and merciful God decreed that his Son would come to forgive every sin,so that there would be more happiness from the gift of grace than there had been sorrow from the coming of sin. … Therefore grace abounded more than sin. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

GRACE ABOUNDED MORE. CHRYSOSTOM: The law was not given in order for sin to abound, for it was given in order to diminish and destroy the offense. But it resulted in the opposite happening, not because of the nature of the law but because of the weakness of those who received it. . . .

Grace abounded much more, because it gave us not only remission from punishment but forgiveness from sin as well, and in addition, new life. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 10.

DESIRE GREW THROUGH THE PROHIBITION. AUGUSTINE: By this Paul has clearly indicated that the Jews did not know by what dispensation the law had been given. It was not given in order to bring life, for grace brings life through faith, but the law was given to show with what great and tight chains those who thought they could fulfill all righteousness in their own strength were bound. So sin abounded, both because desire grew more ardent in the light of the prohibition and because the crime of trespass affected those who sinned against the law. Whoever considers the second of the four states of man will understand this. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 30.

AUGUSTINE: Prohibition increased lust. It made it unconquered so that transgression might be added, which did not exist without the law, although there was sin. CONTINENCE 3.7.

AUGUSTINE: Grace means that good works are now performed by those who had earlier done evil; it does not make them continue in evil in the belief that good will be given to them in return. GRACE AND FREE WILL 22.44.

WHY LAW CAME IN. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Here Paul is referring to the law of Moses. For the Hebrews had the natural law, and they received the written law, which is why Paul says that it “entered in.” For they received the law for greater reward, but when by their negligence they failed to keep it, they fell into greater sin. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

THE MEDICINE OF CHRIST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The law entered in so that the many-sided nature of the fall of those who were under the law might be made clear. Nobody could ever be made righteous because of the weakness of human nature. Rather, everyone condemned themselves by their own crimes of transgression. The law came as the revealer of our common weakness, so that the human race would appear even more clearly to need the aid of the medicine of Christ. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul says that “the law came in” because he wants to show that God did not leave earlier generations destitute of his providence. But he also gave the law to the Jews, so that by their zeal and dedication to godliness they could act as a light to the other nations.INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

A DEBT OF LOVE. PELAGIUS: The amount of sin has been revealed so that the greatness of grace might be known and so that we might pay back a corresponding debt of love. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

Rom