ACC ~ Romans 7 v12

PREPARATORY DISCIPLINE. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: This is true as far as a sort of training with fear and preparatory discipline goes, leading as it did to the culmination of legislation and finally to grace. WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED? 9.

GOODNESS AND JUSTICE CONCUR. ORIGEN: If the law is found to be good, undoubtedly we shall believe that he who gave it is a good God. If, however, it is just rather than good, we shall think of God as a just lawgiver. But Paul the apostle says in no roundabout terms: “The commandment is holy and just and good.” It is plain from this that Paul has not learned the doctrines of those [Gnostics] who separate the just from the good. Rather, he had been instructed by that God and illuminated by the Spirit of that God, who is holy and good and just at the same time. ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 2.5.4.

AMBROSIASTER: Paul commends the law in this way so that no doubts about it might remain. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

MOSAIC, NOT NATURAL, LAW. CHRYSOSTOM: Some people say that here Paul is not talking about the law of Moses but rather about the law of nature or of the commandment given in paradise. But surely Paul’s aim is to reach beyond the authority of the law of Moses; he has no quarrel with the other two. And rightly so, for it was because the Jews feared the abolition of their law that they so obstinately opposed the working of grace. Moreover, it does not appear that Paul ever called the commandment given in paradise a law, nor has any other writer. Following Paul’s logic, let us pursue the argument a little further. Having spoken to the Romans about proper standards of behavior, Paul goes on to say: “Do you not know, brethren—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during his life? But you are discharged from the law.” … Now if these things had been said about the natural law, we would now be without it. And if that were true, we would be more senseless than the irrational creatures are. But surely this is not so. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 12.

AUGUSTINE: Man needed to be shown the foulness of his malady. Against his wickedness not even a holy and good commandment could avail; by it the wickedness was increased rather than diminished. THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 9.6.

PELAGIUS: Contrary to those who attack the law and those who separate justice from goodness, the law is called a good and holy grace as well as a just grace. God is regularly called “good” in the Old Testament and “just” in the New. This contradicts the Marcionites. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

HOLY, JUST AND GOOD. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Paul calls the law “holy” because it gives us the principles on which to tell the difference between good and evil, … “just” because after showing us what is good it necessarily points out the punishment for the transgressor, but also “good” because it is the source of good things, showing us what they are and persuading us that they are desirable. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

THE LAW IS HOLY. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The law was holy because it testified that those who kept it were holy, righteous and good and were not guilty of sin in any way whatsoever. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

THE RELATION OF LAW AND CONSCIENCE. THEODORET OF CYR: The law is what was given to Moses; the commandment, what was given to Adam. What Paul praises so highly the average person condemns. For those who have given themselves over to idleness and run away from the works of righteousness blame God for having given a commandment in the first place. They say that, if God did not know what was going to happen, how can he be God? And if he did know that men would sin but nevertheless gave the commandment, then he is himself the cause of sin. But these people ought to realize that the knowledge of good and evil belongs to all who have the gift of reason. Only those without reason lack the ability to distinguish one from the other. The wolf is vicious, the lion devours, and bears and leopards do the same sort of thing but they have no sense of sin, nor do they have a conscience which is offended by their actions. But men are ashamed even if nobody else sees what they do and are afraid to admit what they have done. For their conscience accuses them. How could this be if they lived without any law? But God gave them a commandment so that they would recognize their own rational nature and fear the lawgiver. Yet they knew that the lawgiver was merciful and that the law was not difficult to keep.

The commandment is “holy” because it teaches what is right. It is “just” because it pronounces the correct sentence on those who break it. But it is also “good” because it prepares eternal life for those who keep it. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

GENNADIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE: “Law” and “commandment” are synonymous in this case. The commandment is called “holy” because it takes us away from sin and sets us apart from evil; “just” because with its righteousness it honors those who obey it and punishes those who transgress it; “good” because it leads us to the good, and this because of the goodness given by God. The law is not sin just because it shows me what is evil but the opposite. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

Rom