Thomas Aquinas Commentary Romans 5:1-5

"Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we also rejoice in our tribulations: knowing that tribulation worketh stedfastness; and stedfastness, approvedness; and approvedness, hope: and hope putteth not to shame; because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us." — Romans 5:1-5 (ASV)

1. After showing the need for Christ’s grace—because without it, neither knowledge of the truth benefited the Gentiles, nor did circumcision and the law benefit the Jews for salvation—the Apostle now begins to praise the power of grace (C. 3, L. 3–C. 4, L. 3).

   In this regard, he does two things:

   • First, he shows what benefits we obtain through grace.
   • Second, he shows from what evils we are freed by it, which he begins at wherefore as by one man (Romans 5:12).

   Concerning the first point, he again does two things:

   • First, he indicates the way we reach or come to grace.
   • Second, he shows the good things we obtain through grace, starting at and glory in the hope of the glory.

   Regarding this first point, he does two more things:

   • First, he exhorts us to the proper use of grace.
   • Second, he shows us the entrance to grace, at by whom also we have access.

2. First, therefore, he says that it has been stated that faith will be counted as righteousness to all who believe in Christ’s resurrection, which is the cause of our justification. Being justified therefore by faith, since through faith in the resurrection we participate in its effect, let us have peace with God. This means submitting ourselves to and obeying Him: agree with God and be at peace (Job 22:21); who has hardened himself against him and been at peace? (Job 9:4).

   And this peace comes through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has brought us to it: he is our peace (Ephesians 2:14).

3. He continues, by whom—that is, Christ—we have access as through a mediator: one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5); through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:18).

   We have access, I say, into this grace, that is, to the state of grace: grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Wherein, that is, through which grace, we have not only risen from sin but we stand firm and upright in the heavens through love: our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem (Psalms 122:2); we have risen and stand upright (Psalms 20:8). And this is through faith, by which we obtain grace. This is not because faith precedes grace, but rather because faith itself comes through grace: by grace you have been saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8). In other words, the first effect of grace in us is faith.

4. Then, when he says, and glory in the hope of the glory, he indicates the blessings that have come to us through grace.

   First, he says that through grace we have the glory of hope.

   Second, that through grace we have the glory of God, at and not only so.

   Concerning the first point, he does three things:

   • First, he shows the greatness of the hope in which we glory.
   • Second, its intensity, at and not only so.
   • Third, its firmness, at and hope does not confound.

5. The greatness of our hope is measured by the greatness of the things we hope for. The Apostle sets this out when he says, and glory in the hope of the glory of the sons of God, that is, we glory in the fact that we hope to obtain the glory of the sons of God.

   For through Christ’s grace, we have received the spirit of adoption of sons (Romans 8:15); behold how they have been numbered among the sons of God . But the father’s inheritance is due to his sons: if sons, heirs also (Romans 8:17). This inheritance is the very glory that God possesses in Himself: have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? (Job 40:9).

   Our hope for this glory has been given to us by Christ: we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and to an inheritance which is incorruptible (1 Peter 1:3). This glory, which will be completed in us in the future, is in the meantime begun in us through hope: for we are saved by hope (Romans 8:24); all those who love your name will glory in you (Psalms 5:11).

6. Then, when he says, and not only so, he shows the intensity of this hope.

   For anyone who intensely hopes for something endures difficult and bitter things for it, just as a sick person who strongly desires health gladly drinks a bitter medicine to be healed by it. Therefore, the sign of the intense hope we have for Christ is that we glory not only in our hope of future glory but also in the evils we suffer for it. He says, and not only so, that is, we not only glory in the hope of glory, but we glory also in tribulation, through which we arrive at glory: through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22); count it all joy when you meet various trials (James 1:2).

7. Then he shows the cause when he says, knowing that.

   Here he mentions four things in order. The first is tribulation, about which he says, tribulation works patience. This is not in the sense that tribulation is the cause that creates patience, but because suffering is the material and occasion for exercising the act of patience: be patient in tribulation (Romans 12:12).

8. Second, he mentions the effect of patience when he says, and patience trial: for gold is tested in the fire and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation .

   It is clear that we easily accept the loss of one thing for the sake of something else we love more. Therefore, if a person patiently endures the loss of physical and temporal goods to obtain eternal benefits, this is sufficient proof that such a person loves eternal blessings more than temporal ones.

   However, James seems to say the opposite: the trial of your faith produces patience (James 1:3).

   The answer is that the word “trial” can be understood in two ways. First, as the experience of the one being tested; in this sense, the trial is the suffering itself through which a person is tested. Thus, to say that tribulation produces patience is the same as saying that tribulation tests patience. Second, “trial” can be understood as the proven character that results from being tested. This is how it is used here, because a person who patiently endures sufferings has been proven by the trial.

9. Third, he mentions the third effect, saying, and trial hope. This means that trial brings about hope, because after a person has been proven, he and others can have hope that he will be admitted to God’s inheritance: God tested them and found them worthy of himself .

   Therefore, from the first point to the last, it is clear that suffering paves the way to hope. It follows that if a person rejoices strongly in hope, he will also glory in his sufferings.

10. Then, when he says, and hope does not confound, he shows the firmness of such hope.

    First, he asserts it, saying that the hope by which we hope for the glory of the sons of God does not confound, that is, it does not fail or disappoint, unless the person fails it. For a person is said to be confounded in his hope when he falls away from the thing he hoped for: in you, O Lord, have I hoped; let me never be disappointed (Psalms 31:1); no one has hoped in the Lord and been disappointed .

11. Second, at because the love of God, he presents two arguments for the certainty of hope.

    • The first is based on a gift of the Holy Spirit.
    • The second is based on the death of Christ, at for why did Christ (Romans 5:6).

12. First, therefore, he says we can be certain that our hope does not disappoint, because the love of God is poured out in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit who is given to us.

    The phrase “the love of God” can be understood in two ways. It can mean the love with which God loves us: he loved you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). Or, it can mean the love with which we love God: I am sure that neither death, nor life . . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38–39). Both of these aspects of God’s love are poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

    For the Holy Spirit, who is the love of the Father and the Son, to be given to us means that we are brought to participate in that very love who is the Holy Spirit. Through this participation, we are made lovers of God. The fact that we love Him is a sign that He loves us: I love those who love me (Proverbs 8:17); not that we first loved God but that he first loved us (1 John 4:10).

    The love with which He loves us is said to be “poured into our hearts” because it is clearly demonstrated within us by the gift of the Holy Spirit sealed in our hearts: by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit he has given us (1 John 3:24).

    And the love with which we love God is said to be “poured into our hearts” because it extends to the perfecting of all the soul’s moral virtues and actions. As it is stated in 1 Corinthians: love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful (1 Corinthians 13:4).

13. Both interpretations of these words lead to the conclusion that hope does not confound. For if they are taken to mean the love of God by which He loves us, it is clear that God does not deny Himself to those whom He loves: he loved his people; all the holy ones were in his hand (Deuteronomy 33:3). Similarly, if they are taken as referring to the love by which we love God, it is clear that He has prepared eternal blessings for those who love Him: he who loves me will be loved by my Father and I will love him and manifest myself to him (John 14:21).