ACC ~ Romans 8 v23 - 27

OVERVIEW:

Christians share in the groaning of creation as it waits for the revelation of God. This is because we know what is coming and can hardly wait for it to be fulfilled in us. The eschatological perspective of the Fathers is clear from the call to hope, which by definition refers to things we do not yet see. The virtue of patience was dear to the Fathers, as appears from what they have to say about Romans 8:25. Christians were to continue to expect Christ’s second coming at any moment, but they were not to despair if he did not return when they expected him. Prayer is effective only when it is offered in the Spirit. This was a major preoccupation of the Fathers, who were acutely conscious of the dangers of unanswered prayer, which might turn people away from their faith. Prayer in the Spirit is prayer according to the will of God, not according to our own desires.

8:23 | Awaiting Redemption of Our Bodies

FIRST FRUITS. ORIGEN: Even though because of the fact that we believe in Christ our salvation is assured, nevertheless it still remains something to be hoped for; it has not yet been realized.

There are different ways of interpreting “the first fruits of the Spirit.” Just as the first fruits of the threshing floor and the wine press are of the same substance as what follows, is it not also true that the Holy Spirit is the first and best of a multitude of other spirits? So to have the first fruits of the Spirit means to have the Holy Spirit, as opposed to a host of other ministering spirits.

The first fruits may also refer to the many gifts of the Spirit. … We apostles, says Paul, have the first fruits of the Spirit, because we were chosen to groan in travail as the Spirit himself does. There is no creature so free of sorrows and sighings that we, who have received the highest and choicest gifts of the Spirit, are not obliged to grieve and sigh over, awaiting the adoption of sons, that is, the perfection of those whom we have been sent to teach and instruct until we see them making enough progress that they deserve to be adopted as sons.

A third possibility is that the first fruits of the Spirit refers to Christ himself, since he is the first born of every creature. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

ADOPTION AS SONS. AMBROSE: The adoption as sons is the redemption of the whole body. LETTER 52.

WORLD AS STORMY OCEAN. AMBROSIASTER: For Christians, this world is like the ocean. For just as the sea is whipped up by adverse winds and produces storms for sailors, so also this world, moved by the scheming of wicked men, disturbs the minds of believers. And the enemy does this in so many different ways that it is hard to know what to avoid first, for sources of tribulation are by no means wanting. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

WE OURSELVES GROAN INWARDLY. CHRYSOSTOM: If the first fruits are enough to free us from our sins and give us righteousness and sanctification … consider how wonderful the whole inheritance must be. If the creation, devoid as it is of a mind and reason and therefore ignorant of these things, nevertheless groans, much more should we groan as well. Next, so as not to give any comfort to the heretics, he says that we do not groan because of the inadequacies of the present system but because we desire something which is much better. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 14.

AUGUSTINE: Paul now speaks about those of us who already believe. For although we serve the law of God with our spirit (i.e., our mind), our flesh still serves the law of sin for as long as we suffer mortal pains and anxieties. … Adoption is already guaranteed for those who believe, but it has been accomplished only spiritually, not physically. The body has not yet received its heavenly transformation, although the spirit, which has turned from its errors to God, has already been changed through the reconciliation of faith. Therefore even believers still await the revelation which will come in the resurrection of the body. This is the fourth state, when everything will be in perfect peace at eternal rest, completely free of malignant corruption or nagging torment. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 53.

[PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: By saying “not only the creation but we ourselves” Paul made it clear that he was not talking about the irrational or insensible creation, which does not partake of the Holy Spirit, but was speaking rather of the saints who pleased God according to the natural law, as well as the disciples of Moses. But the disciples of Christ are said to have the first fruits, the first and most brilliant spiritual gifts by which they impressed the whole world; for there had not been such great grace before the law or in the law of Moses. … By “the redemption of our body,” Paul shows that in Christ we are one body. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

PELAGIUS: Not only do the angels, who are kinder than we are, grieve over these unrepentant people, but we who have the Holy Spirit groan for such people. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The corruptible body weighs down the soul, and the earthly body pulls down a mind full of cares. For as soon as the Spirit comes to dwell in us and turns us to the study of virtue, the love of the flesh jumps up to combat it, and the law in our members, which is prone to silly lusts, begins a bitter struggle. That is why we groan waiting for the liberation of our bodies as a result of the adoption. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

8:24 | Hope Is Not Seen

HOPE SEEN IS NOT HOPE. ORIGEN: I have already spoken in general terms about hope, but here I would add only that Paul teaches us not to expect that in the future life we shall possess any of the things which we can see here and now, for all these things will pass away. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

IN THIS HOPE WE WERE SAVED. AMBROSIASTER: By hoping for what God has promised to us in Christ, we have made ourselves worthy of deliverance. Therefore we have been set free in the hope that what is coming in the future is no different from what we believe. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

CHRYSOSTOM: What Paul means is that we are not to expect everything to be given to us in this life, but we are to have hope as well. For the only thing we brought to God was our faith in the promises of what was to come, and it was in this way that we were saved. If we lose this hope, we lose the one thing which we have contributed to our salvation. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 14.

[PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Here Paul is referring to those who believe in Christ. For when he says that they have the first fruits of the Spirit, he shows that Christians have received the main gifts of the Holy Spirit and have a greater grace than all those saints who had lived before the coming of Christ. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

SEEING AND HOPING. PELAGIUS: We have not yet seen the things that we were promised, but we live in hope. What we see is not hoped for, but we own it if it belongs to us. Christians have no hope in what can be seen, for we have been promised not what is present but what is to come in the future. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

NOT PRESENT, YET CERTAIN. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: We believe that our bodies also will overcome corruption and death. For the time being this is a hope, because it is not yet present, but it is a future certainty. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

8:25 | Waiting with Patience

PATIENT WAITING. CYPRIAN: Patient waiting is necessary that we may fulfill what we have begun to be and, through God’s help, that we may obtain what we hope for and believe. THE GOOD OF PATIENCE 13.

WE WAIT WITH PATIENCE. AMBROSIASTER: Patience is greatly approved of by God, for by daily waiting it desires the coming of the kingdom of God and does not doubt just because it delays. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

HOPE DISTINGUISHED FROM PATIENCE. CHRYSOSTOM: Hope is feeling confidence in things to come. … The name of patience belongs to hard work and to much endurance. But even this he grants to the one who hopes in order to comfort the weary soul. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 14.

AUGUSTINE: Patience trains up the longing. Wait, for he waits. Walk on steadfastly that you may reach the end. He will not leave that place to which you are moving. HOMILIES ON 1 JOHN 4.7.

PELAGIUS: The reward for faith with patience is great, because we believe what we do not yet see, and we are as sure of what we have not yet received as if we have already received it. As Paul says to the Hebrews: “You have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised.” PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THE METAPHOR OF THE EGG. BEDE: The certainty of our hope is prefigured by the egg. No offspring is as yet discernible in the egg, but the birth of the bird to come is hoped for. The faithful do not yet look upon the glory of the fatherland on high in which they believe at the present time, but they await its coming in hope. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 11.14.

8:26 | The Spirit Intercedes

THE SPIRIT HELPS IN OUR WEAKNESS. ORIGEN: Just as a sick man does not ask the doctor for things which will restore him to health but rather for things which his disease longs for, so likewise we, as long as we are languishing in the weakness of this life, will from time to time ask God for things which are not good for us. This is why the Spirit has to help us.

The weakness which the Spirit helps us with is our flesh. … Whenever the Holy Spirit sees our spirit struggling with the flesh and being drawn to it, he stretches out his hand and helps us in our weakness. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

THE SPIRIT IMPORTUNES. NOVATIAN: The Holy Spirit importunes the divine ears on our behalf “with sighs too deep for words,” thereby discharging his duties as advocate and rendering his services in our defense. He has been given to dwell in our bodies and to bring about our sanctification. THE TRINITY 29.16.

THE SPIRIT INTERCEDES ACCORDING TO HIS NATURE. AMBROSIASTER: Our prayers are weak because they ask for things contrary to reason, and for this reason Paul shows that this weakness in us is helped by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. The Holy Spirit helps because he does not allow anything we ask for before the proper time or against God’s wishes to happen.

Paul says that the Spirit intercedes for us not with human words but according to his own nature. For when what comes from God speaks with God, it is obvious that he will speak in the same way as the one from whom he comes speaks. For the Spirit given to us overflows with our prayers in order to make up for our inadequacy and lack of foresight by his actions and to ask God for the things which will be of benefit to us. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE GIFT OF PRAYER. CHRYSOSTOM: The Spirit is always there to help us and to do his part. … Since we are ignorant of much that is profitable for us and we ask for things which are not profitable, the gift of prayer used to come into one person in the church, and he would be the person set aside to ask God for the things which would benefit them all. Here the word Spirit is the name which Paul gives to the kind of grace and to the soul who receives it and intercedes with God on our behalf. The one who was counted worthy of such a grace as this would stand with great attention, and with many mental groanings he would fall before God, asking the things which were profitable for all. Nowadays, the deacon is a symbol of this, when he offers up the prayers for the people. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 14.

THE DECISIONS OF THE LORD. CHRYSOSTOM: It is not possible, says Paul, for us human beings to have a precise knowledge of everything. So we ought to yield to the Creator of our nature and with joy and great relish accept those things which he has decided on and have an eye not to the appearance of events but to the decisions of the Lord. After all, he knows better than we do what is for our benefit, and he also knows what steps must be taken for our salvation. HOMILIES ON GENESIS 30.16.

WE DO NOT KNOW HOW TO PRAY AS WE OUGHT. AUGUSTINE: It is clear from what follows that Paul is speaking here about the Holy Spirit. … “We do not know how to pray as we ought” for two reasons. First, it is not yet clear what future we are hoping for or where we are heading, and second, many things in this life may seem positive but are in fact negative, and vice versa. Tribulation, for example, when it comes to a servant of God in order to test or correct him may seem futile to those who have less understanding. … But God often helps us through tribulation, and prosperity, which may be negative if it traps the soul with delight and the love of this life, is sought after in vain.

The Spirit sighs by making us sigh, arousing in us by his love a desire for the future life. “The Lord your God tempts you so that he might know whether you love him,” that is, to make you know, for nothing escapes God’s notice. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 54.

THE SPIRIT HIMSELF INTERCEDES. AUGUSTINE: The Spirit that intercedes is nothing but the same charity which the Spirit has wrought in you. … Charity itself groans in prayer, and he who gave it cannot shut his ears to its voice. Cast away care, let charity make request, and the ears of God are ready to listen. The answer comes—not what you want but what is to your advantage. HOMILIES ON 1 JOHN 6.8.

AUGUSTINE: The Holy Spirit, who intercedes with God on behalf of the saints, does not groan as if he were in need and experiencing distress. Rather he moves us to pray when we groan, and thus he is said to do what we do when he moves us. AGAINST THE MANICHEES 1.22.34.

AUGUSTINE: We must not deduce from this that either the apostle or those to whom he spoke were unacquainted with the Lord’s Prayer. We think that the reason Paul says that we do not know how we should pray … was because temporal trials and troubles are often useful for curing the swelling of pride or for proving and testing our patience, and by this proving and testing winning for it a more glorious and precious reward; or for chastising and wiping out certain sins, while we, ignorant of these benefits, wish to be delivered from all trouble. LETTER 130.

[PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: We find it difficult to express in words the desire of our prayer, which we have conceived in the heart. This is why Paul adds that the Spirit prays for us with sighs which cannot be uttered. Therefore God, who tries the hearts, knows how much we desire to believe, even if we cannot comprehend it in words. Furthermore, he knows that we ask him for holy things and not for things of this world, according to his will. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

PELAGIUS: The Spirit helps us in accordance with the hope we have, so that we may request not earthly things but heavenly ones. For our ability is weak unless it is helped by the Holy Spirit. We still see through a glass darkly, and often what we judge to be helpful is actually harmful. Therefore our requests may not be granted by divine providence, as Paul says elsewhere. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THEODORET OF CYR: Do not think that you will be set free by things which are harmful. You do not know what is good for you in the way that God does. Therefore, give yourselves to him who holds the key to the universe. For even if you ask nothing but merely groan under the impulse of the grace which dwells in you, he handles your affairs wisely and will ensure that you get what you need. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

8:27 | Interceding According to God’s Will

HE WHO SEARCHES THE HEART. ORIGEN: Paul shows here that God pays less attention to the words we use in prayer than he does to what is in our heart and mind. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

KNOWS THE MIND OF THE SPIRIT. AMBROSIASTER: It is clear that the prayer of every spirit is known to God, from whom nothing is secret or hidden. How much more then should [the Father] know what the Holy Spirit, who is the same essence as himself, is saying? COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul is here describing the spiritual man who has the gift of prayer. He does not inform God as if God were ignorant but intercedes so that we may learn what it is that we should pray for and to ask God to give us things which are pleasing to him. … These prayers are heard, because the man who prays them is doing so “according to the will of God.” HOMILIES ON ROMANS 14.

SPIRIT AS GRACE. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: It is a custom of holy Scripture to call grace “spirit.” So Paul in this passage calls the grace of the Holy Spirit “spirit,” which is dispensed and given to us in different ways, as the same apostle says to the Corinthians: “There are many gifts, but there is one Spirit.” THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

PELAGIUS: Paul has called a gift of the Spirit “the Spirit.” … He makes us request with groans which cannot be described, just as God is said to tempt us in order to know, i.e., in order to make us know, what kind of people we are. Even in popular usage the master is said to accomplish what he orders to be done by others, as in statements like “he built a house” or “he wrote a book,” though he neither built nor wrote. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THEODORET OF CYR: “Spirit” here does not mean the substance of the Spirit but rather the grace which is given to believers. By this grace we are encouraged to struggle, we are inflamed to pray more earnestly, and with ineffable sighings we implore God the Savior. The holy apostle wrote this out of the experience of his own suffering. For he himself had asked to be set free from evils, not once or twice but three times, but he did not get what he asked for. Rather, he heard God say: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” But when he learned this, he willingly embraced the things which he had asked to be set free from and said: “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

THE PROMPTING OF THE SPIRIT. PHILOXENUS OF MABBUG: You see that all the good promptings which bring us to repentance result from the activity of the Spirit, and pure prayer, which brings all these good promptings to completion, is also stirred up in our soul as the result of the Spirit’s activity. He too, in a hidden way, initially arouses us to groans at the memory of our sins. ON THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

CAESARIUS OF ARLES: By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in silence, the shouting of the saints is heard in the presence of God. SERMON 97.2.