Romans — Chapter 2

1. Thou that iudgest.) Iudging other men. Such as by publike authoritie either spiritual or temporal haue to punish offenders, be not forbidden to iudge or condemne any for their offenses, though themselues be sometimes guilty in their conscience of the same or greater: yet may it be matter of aggrauating sinnes before God, when they wil not repent of those offenses themselues, for the which they punish others. But if they be open offenders themselues, in the same sort for which they iudge other, they giue scandal, and thereby aggrauate their sinnes very much. Properly here he forbiddeth to charge another falsely or truly with these crimes whereof himself is as farre guilty or more then the other, as the Iewes specially did the Gentils, to whom he speaketh here.

4. Doest thou contemne?) God's long suffering is for our repentance. This proueth that God offereth his grace & mercie to many, & by long patience & sufferance expecteth their repentance, differring their punishment of purpose that they may amend, and that he is not delighted in their perdition, nor is the cause of their sinne: but contrariewise that they harden their owne harts, and their owne free-wil reiect his grace and contemne his benignitie.

6. According to his workes.) Good workes meritorious. Though the holy Apostles special purpose be in this Epistle, to commend vnto the Gentils that trusted so much in their moral workes, the faith in Christ; yet lest any man should thinke or gather vntruly of his wordes, that Christian mens works were not meritorious or the cause of Saluation, he expresly writeth, that God giueth vs wel euerlasting life and glorie to men, for and according to their good workes, as he giueth damnation for the contrarie workes. And howsoeuer Heretikes fondly fly from the euidence of these places, yet S. Augustine saith, *Life euerlasting to be rendered for good workes according to the manifest Scripture: God shal render to euery man according to his workes. *Li. de grat. & lib. arb. c. 8.

13. Not the hearers.) The first iustification without workes; the second by workes. This same sentence agreable also to Christes wordes (Mat. 7,21.) is the very ground of S. Iames disputation, that not faith alone, but good workes also doe iustifie. Therfore S. Paul (howsoeuer some peruersely consider his wordes in other places) meaneth the same that S. Iames. And here *he speaketh not properly of the first iustification, when an Infidel or il man is made iust, who had no acceptable workes before to be iustified by (of which kind he specially meaneth in other places of this Epistle) but he speaketh of the second iustification or increase of former iustice, which he that is in Gods grace, daily proceedeth in, by doing al kind of good workes, which be iustices, and for doing of which, he is iust indeed before God. S. Paul speaketh of the first specially, S. Iames of the second. And of this kind doth S. Iames namely treate. Which is directly against the Heretikes of this time, who not only attribute nothing to the workes done in sinne and infidelitie, but esteeme nothing at al of al Christian mens workes toward iustification & saluation, condemning them as vncleane, sinful, hypocritical, Pharisaical: which is directly against these & other Scriptures, and plaine blaspheming of Christ and his grace, by whose spirit and cooperation we doe them. *Aug. de Sp. & lit. c. 26. to. 3.

26. Keepe the iustices.) True iustice both in Iew and Gentile, is by keeping the Law. If a Gentil either now since Christ, by his grace and faith, or any other before Christ, not of the stocke of Abraham, through the Spirit of God keep the iustices of the Law, he is iust no lesse then if he had been outwardly circumcised, and shal condemne the circumcised Iew not keeping the Law, without which, his outward Sacrament cannot serue him, but shal be much to his condemnation, that hauing the Law and peculiar Sacraments of God, he did not keepe the Law, nor inwardly exercise that in his hart which the outward signe did import. And al this is no more but to insinuate that true iustice is not in faith only or knowledge of the Law, or in the name either of Iew or Christian, but in doing good workes and keeping the Law by Gods grace.

29. In Spirit, not letter.) The letter, and the spirit. The outward ceremonies, Sacraments, threates, and commandements of God in the Law, are called the letter; the inward working of God in mans hart & indowing him with faith, hope, and charitie, and with loue, liking, wil, & abilitie to keepe his commandements by the grace and merites of Christ, are called the spirit. The carnal, & spiritual Iewe. In which sense, the carnal Iew was a Iew according to the letter, and he was circumcised after the letter: but the true beleeuing Gentil obseruing by Gods grace in hart and in Gods sight that which was meant by that carnal signe, is a Iew according to the spirit, & iustified by God. Of the spirit and letter S. Augustine made a famous *worke, very necessarie for the vnderstanding of this Epistle. *de sp. & lit. to. 1.