Thomas Aquinas Commentary Romans 2:1-5

"Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judges another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practise the same things. And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practise such things. And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practise such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;" — Romans 2:1-5 (ASV)

1. After showing that the Gentiles did not become justified from the knowledge of the truth they had, the Apostle now shows that neither were the Jews made justified by the things in which they boasted. Consequently, both of them need the power of the Gospel’s grace for salvation.

   • First, therefore, he says that the Jews were not made justified by the law.

   • Second, that they were not made justified by their heritage, in which they boasted: what advantage then has the Jew? (Romans 3:1).

   • Third, that they were not made justified by circumcision: what shall we say then? (Romans 4:1).

2. Regarding the first point, it should be noted that Jews and Gentiles converted to the faith judged each other on their previous life. For the Jews held it against the Gentiles that when they lived without God’s law, they sacrificed to idols. The Gentiles, for their part, held it against the Jews that even though they received God’s law, they did not keep it.

   • First, therefore, he rebukes both sides and their excessive judgment.

   • Second, he shows that the Jews were not worthy of a reward, because the things they boast in were not sufficient for salvation, as in for not the hearers of the law are righteous before God (Romans 2:13).

   Regarding the first point, he does two things.

   • First, he refutes human judgment.

   • Second, he reveals and praises the divine judgment, beginning with for we know.

   Regarding the first of these, he does two things:

   • First, he proposes that although they judge one another, neither has an excuse.

   • Second, he gives the reason, beginning with for in which you judge.

3. First, therefore, he concludes from what he stated in the first chapter that even though the Gentiles by their wickedness suppressed the truth they knew about God, you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judges another man, just as he said before: so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:20).

   He says whoever you are as if to say: whether Jew or Gentile, because even the Gentiles, who might seem to have an excuse, cannot be excused by pleading ignorance, as he stated before (Romans 1:20 and following); do not pronounce judgment before the time (1 Corinthians 4:5).

4. Then when he says for in which you judge, he gives the reason by rejecting the causes for excuse:

   • First, ignorance.

   • Second, innocence, at for you do the same.

5. Ignorance is excluded by the very act of judging. For whoever judges another as an evildoer shows that he knows the conduct is evil and, therefore, that he himself is worthy of condemnation. And this is what he says: you have no excuse, for in which you judge another as an evildoer, you condemn yourself, that is, you show that you are worthy of being condemned: judge not, that you be not judged (Matthew 7:1).

6. This does not mean that every judgment is a cause of condemnation.

   For there are three kinds of judgment: one is just, that is, made according to the rule of justice: love justice, you rulers of the earth ; another is not just, that is, made contrary to the rule of justice: although servants of his kingdom, you did not rule rightly ; the third is rash judgment, against which it is said: be not rash with your mouth (Ecclesiastes 5:2).

   A rash judgment is made in two ways: one way is when a person passes judgment on a matter committed to him without proper knowledge of the truth, contrary to what is stated: I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know (Job 29:16). Another way is when a person presumes to judge hidden matters, which God alone has the power to judge, contrary to what is stated: do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness (1 Corinthians 4:5).

7. But some things are hidden not only in relation to us but by their very nature, and so belong solely to God’s knowledge. First, the thoughts of the heart: man’s heart is deceitful and unsearchable. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the mind and try the heart (Jeremiah 17:9). Second, the contingent future: tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know you are gods (Isaiah 41:23). Hence, as Augustine says: there are two cases in which we must beware of rash judgment: when it is not certain in what spirit something was done, or when it is not certain how a person will turn out, who now appears to be good or to be wicked.

   The first kind of judgment is not a cause for condemnation, but the second and third are.

8. Then when he says for you do the same, he rejects the other excuse, namely, innocence. It is as if to say: the reason why you, the judge of others, condemn yourself is that you do the same things which you judge, that is, for which you condemn them. Consequently, it seems that you are acting against your conscience: why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3).

9. However, it should be noted that it is not always true that when someone judges another for a sin which he himself commits, he automatically draws condemnation upon himself, because he does not always sin mortally by so judging; yet he always reveals his own damnation.

   For if he is publicly guilty of the sin for which he judges another, he seems to be causing scandal by judging, unless perhaps he humbly reproves himself along with the other and laments his sin.

   But if he is secretly guilty of the same sin, he does not sin by judging another for that sin, especially when he does so with humility and with an effort to rise again. As Augustine says in The Lord’s Sermon on the Mount: when necessity compels us to correct someone, let us first examine whether it is a vice that we have never had. Then let us consider that we could have had it, or that we once had it and no longer do. Then our common weakness will stir the memory, so that mercy and not hatred will guide that correction. But if we discover that we are presently guilty of the same vice, we should not scold but mourn together and invite the other to join in grieving.

10. Then when he says for we know, he reveals and praises God’s judgment. Concerning this, he does three things.

    • First, he declares the truth of God’s judgment.

    • Second, he rejects a contrary opinion, at do you think this.

    • Third, he makes the truth clear, at who will render (Romans 2:6).

11. First, therefore, he says: the reason I say that you condemn yourself when you do the same things that you judge is that we know—that is, we hold it as certain—that the judgment of God is against those who do such things. That is, God’s judgment threatens them: the avenger of sin is the sword, that you may know there is a judgment (Job 19:29); God will bring every deed into judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

    We also know that this judgment will be according to truth: he will judge the earth with justice (Psalms 96:13).

    But human judgment, even though it may be formed justly, is not always based on the truth of the matter, but on the words of witnesses, which sometimes conflict with the truth. But this cannot happen in the divine judgment, because, as it is said: I am the judge and witness (Jeremiah 21:23). Nor is he deceived by false allegations: I will not spare him, nor his mighty words, crafted for supplication (Job 41:12).

12. Then when he says do you think this, he rejects a contrary opinion.

    • First, he states it.

    • Second, the cause of it, at or do you despise.

    • Third, he refutes it, at do you not know.

13. First, therefore, he says: I have said that God’s judgment is in accordance with the truth, against those who do such things. But do you not, O man, whoever you are, who judges those who do such things and yet do the same things, do you not fear a higher judgment? Do you think that you will escape the judgment of God? It is as if to say: if you think this, you are wrong: where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? (Psalms 139:7); all way of escape will be lost to them (Job 11:20).

14. Then when he says or do you despise, he shows the cause of this false assumption. For since a person is not punished immediately by God for sin, he assumes that he will not be punished, which is contrary to Sirach: do not say, ‘I sinned, and what happened to me?’ For the Lord is slow to anger ; because sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the sons of men is fully set to do evil (Ecclesiastes 8:11).

    Yet the fact that the sinner does evil a hundred times and is patiently endured should not lead him to be presumptuous toward God, but to conclude that it is good to fear him. Therefore, he says here or do you despise: when wickedness comes, contempt comes also (Proverbs 18:3); the riches, that is, the abundance: God who is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4); of his goodness, through which he pours out his blessings on us: you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing (Psalms 145:16). For according to Dionysius, the nature of "the good" involves diffusing itself: the Lord is good to those who wait on him (Lamentations 3:25); and patience, through which he endures those who sin grievously and maliciously: God is a just and patient judge. Is he indignant every day? (Psalms 7:11); and longsuffering, through which he endures for a long time those who sin from weakness and persist in their sin: and count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation (2 Peter 3:15).

15. Then when he says do you not know, he refutes the previously mentioned cause, namely the cause of contempt for the divine patience.

    • First, he reveals the purpose of God’s patience.

    • Second, the danger of contempt, at but according to your hardness.

16. First, therefore, he says it is hard to understand your scorn: do you not know that the goodness of God in postponing punishment leads you to repentance? The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9); the Lord waits to be gracious to you (Isaiah 30:18).

17. As is said in the Gloss, the Apostle seems to touch upon three groups of sinners: those who promise themselves impunity; those who scorn God’s goodness; and the ignorant. Hence, the Gloss says: you sin, O man, as long as you promise yourself that you will escape punishment; you sin more seriously, because you scorn; you sin most seriously, because you are ignorant.

    But this seems to be false, for ignorance makes a sin less serious, rather than more serious.

    The answer, as some hold, is that it is more serious, that is, more dangerous for some, because those who are ignorant of sin do not seek a remedy. Or it is most serious if it is the ignorance that is a form of unbelief, which is the gravest sin: if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized (1 Corinthians 14:38). Or it is most serious in ingratitude, as Augustine says: one who does not recognize a blessing is more ungrateful than one who belittles it, that is, scorns it.

18. Then when he says but according to your hardness, he shows the danger of contempt, because it is not softened by the blessings of God’s goodness: a hard heart will be afflicted at the end ; and unrepentant heart, which is not moved to repent by God’s forbearance and patience: no man repents of his wickedness (Jeremiah 8:6), you are storing up wrath for yourself, that is, you are multiplying the debt of punishment: you have laid up a treasure of wrath for the last days (James 5:3).

    Hence there follows for the day of wrath, that is, on the day of judgment: a day of wrath is that day (Zephaniah 1:15), because God does not now inflict the punishment He will inflict then, as it is stated: at the set time I will judge with equity (Psalms 75:2); and revelation of the just judgment of God, because the justice of God’s judgment will be revealed then, whereas now it is not believed or does not seem just: for my salvation is near to come, and my justice to be revealed (Isaiah 56:1).

19. Because the Gloss says that by hardness and unrepentant heart is meant a sin against the Holy Spirit, which is unforgivable, it is important to see what a sin against the Holy Spirit is and why it is unforgivable.

    Accordingly, it should be noted that in the opinion of the early Church Fathers who preceded Augustine—namely, Athanasius, Hilary, Ambrose, Jerome, and Chrysostom—the sin against the Holy Spirit was the blasphemy by which the works of the Holy Spirit are attributed to an unclean spirit (Matthew 12:31). It is considered unforgivable both in this life and in the future, because the Jews were punished for this sin even in this life by the Romans and in the life to come by devils. Or, it is because it has no basis for being excused, unlike the blasphemy they spoke against Christ, since he was a son of man: behold, a glutton and a drunkard (Matthew 11:19). They could have been led to say this because of the weakness of the flesh, as also happened in the Old Testament, when the children of Israel complained about the lack of bread and water, as we read in Exodus (16:2 and following). This could be considered a human failing and easy to forgive. But later on, when they declared before an idol, these are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 32:4), they sinned against the Holy Spirit, for they attributed God’s work to demons. Hence their sin is called unforgivable, when the Lord answers: nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them (Exodus 32:34).

    Augustine, on the other hand, calls a sin against the Holy Spirit any word or blasphemy a person speaks against the Holy Spirit, through whom sins are forgiven, as is stated: receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven (John 20:22). Indeed, this sin is committed in the heart, in word, and in deed, as long as one continues in sin to the end. Consequently, final unrepentance is a sin against the Spirit and by its very nature unforgivable.

    Later teachers call a sin against the Holy Spirit one that is committed with deliberate malice, which is opposed to the goodness attributed to the Holy Spirit, just as a sin against the Son of God is one committed from ignorance, which is opposed to the wisdom attributed to the Son. Similarly, a sin against the Father is one committed through weakness, which is opposed to the power attributed to the Father.

    Consequently, a sin against the Father and against the Son is considered forgivable, because the very fact that it is committed from ignorance or from weakness seems to be a basis for excuse. But one committed from deliberate malice has no basis for excuse; hence, it is considered unforgivable, because it has nothing in it to plead for forgiveness, although God does forgive it sometimes, because he is good, just as he sometimes used his power to cure a naturally incurable disease.

20. In light of what has been said, six kinds of sin against the Holy Spirit are listed, each of which excludes something by which sin is forgiven. The first two are on God's part:

    1. Despair, which is opposed by hope in His mercy.

    2. Presumption, which is opposed by fear of God’s justice.

    Two others are on man's part:

    3. Obstinacy (which is here called hardness), by which a person hardens his soul to sin; this is opposed by turning from contempt for the changeable good.

    4. An unrepentant heart, which has no intention of repenting and returning to God; this is opposed by the abandonment of the state of being turned away from God.

    The last two are regarding God’s gifts:

    5. Resisting the known truth, which is opposed by faith: by faith sins are cleansed (Proverbs 15:27).

    6. Envy of another's grace, which is opposed by charity: charity covers all offenses (Proverbs 10:12).