ACC ~ Romans 5 v5

WHOSE HEARTS? ORIGEN: Whose hearts are those into which God’s love has been poured? I believe these are the hearts of those in whom “perfect love has cast out fear” and to whom the spirit of adoption has been given, who cries in their hearts: “Abba, Father!”COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

HOPE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT. AMBROSIASTER: Hope does not let us down, even though we are considered by evil people to be stupid and naive, because we believe in things which are impossible in this world. For we have in us the pledge of God’s love through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE GREATEST GIFT POSSIBLE. CHRYSOSTOM: God has given us the greatest gift possible and in profusion. … What is this gift? It is the Holy Spirit. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 9.

[PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Clearly Paul is saying here that whatever is given to us by God the Father is given through the Holy Spirit. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

MORAL PROGRESS. AUGUSTINE: Who can hurt such a man? Who can subdue him? In prosperity he makes moral progress, and in adversity he learns to know the progress he has made. When he has an abundance of mutable goods he does not put his trust in them, and when they are taken away he gets to know whether or not they have taken him captive. OF TRUE RELIGION 92.

THE LOVE OF GOD. AUGUSTINE: That God may be loved, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, not by the free choice whose spring is in ourselves but through the Holy Spirit, who is given to us. THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 5.3.

CONFORMED TO GOD. AUGUSTINE: It is through love that we are conformed to God, and being so conformed and made like to him, and set apart from the world, we are no longer confounded by those things which should be subject to us. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. THE WAY OF LIFE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 1.13.23.

WHY TRIBULATION DOES NOT DESTROY PATIENCE. AUGUSTINE: It is not by ourselves but by the Holy Spirit who is given to us that this charity, shown by the apostle to be God’s gift, is the reason why tribulation does not destroy patience but rather gives rise to it. GRACE AND FREE WILL 18.39.

LOVE IS NOT DISMAYED. PELAGIUS: The hope of things to come casts out all confusion. This is why the man who is dismayed by Christ’s injunctions lacks hope. The greatness of God’s benefits arouses in us greatness of love, which does not know fear or dismay because it is complete. We also learn how God loves us, because he has not only forgiven us our sins through the death of his Son but also given us the Holy Spirit, who already shows us the glory of things to come. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

INDWELLING OF THE SPIRIT. OECUMENIUS: It is to be understood that the indwelling of the adorable and thrice-Holy Spirit is found only in our minds and hearts. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

GRACE ENABLES THE FULFILLMENT OF LAW. BEDE: The law was indeed given through Moses, and there it was determined by a heavenly rule what was to be done and what was to be avoided, but what it commanded was completed only by the grace of Christ. On the one hand, that law was able to point out sin, teaching justice and showing transgressors what they are charged with. On the other hand, the grace of Christ, poured out in the hearts of the faithful through the spirit of charity, brings it about that what the law commanded may be fulfilled. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 1.2.

Rom