Since indeed circumcision is nobler than uncircumcision, circumcision is justified by faith as if it is superior to uncircumcision, and the lower-ranking uncircumcision goes through faith to be justified, not coming from faith; for someone believing comes into circumcision, especially the hidden one that the Apostle speaks about; thus, it is better to be justified by faith than through faith, just as it is considered better "from a man" as from a man than "through a woman" as through a woman.
Regarding the Savior, it is not said "through a woman" but "from a woman," because for every human this holds, since before being through a woman he was from a man; but for the Savior, not having been from a man, it does not hold that he was through a woman. Therefore, there, since what is born of the flesh is flesh, his flesh, not being from a man, was from a woman and not through a woman. [Rom. 3, 31] We inquire why he did not say "from faith" but "through the faith." The circumcision is justified by faith, and we do not doubt that the law is not annulled from faith, the circumcision being justified by the faith; and if the uncircumcision is justified through the faith, does it annul the law through the faith? But now we have received Moses' law through faith not being annulled; for faith establishes the law as being from God; it is evident that we speak about the right faith. Therefore, every holy and sound believer establishes the law, especially the spiritual one, and by no means annuls it. If someone objects with the "ministry of death in letters engraved on stones came in glory so that the sons of Israel could not look steadfastly at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, which is passing away," from the second epistle to the Corinthians, we will say that it is not the same as "Does the law then annul?" to "Do we annul the law then?" Neither does Paul himself do the annulling of the law; for if the law is annulled, it is annulled by the surpassing glory and not by Paul nor any other of the holy men, but by him who declares himself to be the Lord of the Sabbath. And the glorified is not glorified in this respect as compared to the surpassing glory.
Indeed, he called it that of Christ; but what does not remain is abolished, since the law is a tutor until the fullness of time comes. And just as one would say that the work of the tutor is necessary while the one being tutored is a child, but the work of the tutor is abolished from the maturity of the one being tutored, so I would say the work of the law is abolished when the fullness of time comes, when also the son, who was no different from a slave, receives his paternal inheritance. For just as the knowledge in Paul and Peter is abolished not with reproach but when the perfect comes, so Paul does not abolish the law, but establishes it. If the surpassing glory of Christ is revealed, then what was considered and called glory before it is put aside by the surpassing glory.
And similarly follows the notion, "He must increase, but I must decrease," so that the things of infancy and the tutor received for it are abolished from the maturity of the one being tutored and not from the tutor himself. For it says, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid." He did not say, "Does the law then void?" but "Do we then make void the law?" And likewise, "But we establish the law."
VI [Rom. 4, 1–8] "What then shall we say that Abraham our father hath found, as pertaining to the flesh?" After saying there are two laws, one he called the law of works and the other the law of faith, and stating that boasting is excluded not by the law of works but by the law of faith, and adding to this that one can be justified by faith without works of law, he then presents Abraham saying that he was justified by faith rather than by works, no less asserting that he accomplished works as loving to follow the faith worthy of justification. Throughout this passage, he seems to propose two justifications: one he called from works, and the other from faith. We say that humans have boasting who are justified by works. The one completely providing for the good things of God in faith, which God counts unto righteousness, before humans and the other rational beings through works by which they declare the doer righteous and not otherwise capable of justifying themselves.
Therefore, righteousness should be practiced, knowing that life belongs to the just and to no one else who adheres to righteousness in faith in God. As there are two justifications, one before God which is from faith, and the other before the rest of the rational beings which is from works, thus fulfilling "By faith the righteous shall live," you will apply to the two justifications the saying "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children," understanding that the secret things seen by the Lord our God pertain to justification by faith, and the things revealed to men and other logical beings pertain to justification by works. And do not think that faith, which God counts unto righteousness, can exist in anyone and that injustice or any wickedness can coexist with such faith.
For the one who believes that Jesus Christ is born from God, and the one born from God does not sin, it's clear that the one who believes that Jesus Christ does not sin, but the sinner does not believe. *** Paul, speaking of Abraham as his father and the father of those of circumcision, adds that he was indeed their father according to the flesh, something I do not think any of those from the nations would rightly say unless someone happens to be from the seed of Ishmael or from any of those descended from Esau, or from the sons of Keturah. For none of those outside of this lineage and from Jacob could rightly call Abraham their father according to the flesh, even if God made him the father of many nations and blessed all the tribes of the earth in him. *** For only a son born from someone's seed according to the flesh can be called so, as it has been said of our Savior at the beginning of the letter being examined: "The one who was born from the seed of David according to the flesh." *** When Abraham camped and came to dwell by the oak of Mamre, which is in Hebron, he built an altar there to the Lord. *** So excessively when I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I gain nothing. And as this is taken as a hypothesis. For it is not possible to have such great faith, I mean all the faith to move mountains, and not have love. *** One must know precisely that having all faith comes from love, about which it is written: "Love believes all things." *** Abraham believed God, not very clearly described by the scripture; the apostle seems to mean that he fully believed. For if he believed generally, then certainly also in part; but if he believed God concerning the things said, it does not follow that he believed generally. *** There are different measures of believing God. Therefore, Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness, but no such thing is written when Israel saw the great hand which the Lord had done to the Egyptians and feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses, but it is not added as it was for Abraham, "It was credited to him as righteousness." Therefore, faith is not credited as righteousness to everyone who believes in God, but to the one who has all faith, which faith becomes credited as righteousness. *** Not as grace but as debt. Nothing so great can be accomplished by the nature of humans or any created beings, so that the given reward from God for accomplishments is not grace but debt. And I could say that nothing God gives to the created nature does He give as a debtor but gives all as grace; and all benefactions are not benefits owed but given by God's own favor to whoever He wishes to benefit. *** Therefore, everyone would agree concerning the parable of the denarius that it is by grace, not by debt, to those who came at the sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours to work and received the denarius at evening. But we would also say that those hired early and thinking to receive more, receiving the denarius, also received grace. *** Now it must be thought more simply and generally spoken, and otherwise more commonly understood about those working and receiving their wages as not by grace but by debt. And it should be mentioned it can be spoken of concerning those working the land as Cain and committing evil deeds; for these I think the penalties are given as if due to them and as the wages of their sins.
Therefore, the apostle also said that the wages of sin is death, but the gift from God is eternal life; for the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord *** it should not be considered in the case of better works mentioned in the gospel, "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you"; for if it is measured back to us in the same measure we measure, our salvation will not be by the grace of God, nor will eternal life be a gift from God *** for by grace we have been saved, and this is not from us, it is the gift of God, so that no one may boast. We must also consider that punishments are given according to the measure of our sins *** He justifies the ungodly through faith, turning them away from ungodliness, so that their faith, which has turned them away from ungodliness, is counted as righteousness *** And it was thought to follow that the forgiveness of lawlessness would be received, and to every one whose lawless acts are covered, and to the man whom the Lord does not count sin, righteousness is counted apart from works. For righteousness is not rooted in works, but from God counting faith as righteousness *** Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven, not those who in any way have done anything worthy of the forgiveness of lawless acts and the blessedness on account of it, but they received this forgiveness and blessedness by believing in the one who justifies the ungodly *** It should also be questioned if there is any order, first stating "whose lawless acts are forgiven," and then "whose sins are covered;" for when the worse is no longer done, forgiveness of lawless acts can occur, and when good is performed to the extent that it becomes a covering for the previous sins, sins are covered; of the ones preceding, neither does the Lord count the sin to anyone anymore *** ["Rom. 4, 9-12"] "Is this blessedness then upon the circumcision or also upon the uncircumcision?" *** the blessedness upon David is not upon the circumcision but upon the uncircumcision *** but even if faith is counted as righteousness, is it counted to a righteous man or an unrighteous one? It is clear indeed that it is not to a righteous man. For what grace is it for a righteous man to be counted as righteousness? But if not to a righteous man, it is evidently to one who became unrighteous before faith. If faith is counted to such a one as righteousness, blessed is the man, to whom the Lord does not count sin, but also forgives the lawless acts before faith *** whether indeed Abraham was yet uncircumcised when faith was counted to him as righteousness or was already circumcised.
He says, "How, then, was it considered?" *** it is revealed that after the justification by faith, having received circumcision, he received a sign and seal of the faith he had while in uncircumcision, so that he might be the father of both (I say of those from circumcision and those in uncircumcision) since faith was credited to him for righteousness while he was still in uncircumcision... father of those believing in uncircumcision, and likewise after being circumcised, he begot Isaac to become the father of those from circumcision according to the flesh... on the eighth day beginning from Isaac *** but he receives, after justification by faith, a sign of circumcision as a seal, obtaining and closing off, like the case of those sealed, the mystery of those justified by faith, so that those who afterward by faith become the circumcision of Abraham, being other than his children who are justified by faith, or those who will be considered his children, will be another people than those justified by faith in uncircumcision *** and according to Paul, when the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, then all Israel will be saved *** And the seal was preserved without being broken until those of faith and in uncircumcision had come; but when the people previously mentioned to be born of faith and circumcision had come, then that seal and sign would be broken, with the fullness of time having come until the time when the seal was to be kept, so that it could be said to anyone now wishing to receive that seal, "If you are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing." I think that just as he redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us, so he freed us from the obligation to be circumcised, assuming circumcision himself, and the law and the prophets were until John *** And we might learn how and when it was credited, whether already having become a father or still being childless. It is clear that he was still childless; for not even Ishmael had yet been born, and just as not being in circumcision but in uncircumcision he was meant to be the father of those justified in faith in uncircumcision, so... he was meant to be the father of those justified by faith, not those indeed from his seed; for not from the seed of Abraham are those justified by faith in uncircumcision *** When therefore he believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness, Abraham had not yet been but was still Abram, and Abram still being childless begot Ishmael by Hagar, whose name his father called Ishmael; but Abraham having become, Sarah bore a son in his old age, at the appointed time as the Lord had spoken to him; and Abraham named his son, who Sarah bore to him, Isaac *** The scripture clearly says: "And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness" and... of the other versions... in Genesis we have marked as... and he believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness *** I think those from the nations not understanding the exactness of the scripture might not relate the phrase from Genesis as Paul did at the beginning; for he who is so precise would not have expressed "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness," but "Abram believed God." Thus it is likely also written in the continuation in the letter to the Romans that "Faith was credited to Abram for righteousness."
Now we have Abraham *** "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness" [written] regarding the promise of his seed being justly applied as to those believing in uncircumcision, as written of the former, because Abraham is the father of all those believing through uncircumcision, so that it may be counted to them as righteousness *** and dishonored and prideful to be from Abraham; he indeed rejects it, making someone wicked and worse; wherefore Daniel also says to the other of the dissolute elders: "Seed of Canaan and not of Judah, beauty has deceived you, and desire has perverted your heart." Since, then, the one not born physically from the seed of Canaan is still called the seed of Canaan because of licentiousness, even though he seemed to be from Judah, how much more should he be called the seed of Abraham who, though he does not seem to have sprung from him, has imitated the faith which was counted to Abraham as righteousness? *** Therefore, Abraham is the father both of those who believe in uncircumcision so that it may be counted to them as righteousness, and of those from circumcision, so that righteousness may also be counted to them through faith in Christ. *** [Rom. 4, 13] For if no promise had been made to him or his seed before "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness", we would not be puzzled how the apostolic saying is true that "The promise to Abraham or to his seed was not through the law, that he would be the heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith".
But now we find… as a testimony of the promise spoken to him that he would be the heir of the world, not through the law, but the Melchizedek promise was given to him when he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abraham by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." Perhaps, indeed, those things before "Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness" may apply to "For the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he would be the heir of the world was not through the law," but those after "Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness" may apply to "but through the righteousness of faith," as it is brought forth to "Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." ([Rom. 4, 14–15] showing the appropriateness of righteousness from faith rather than from the law, saying: If those who are heirs become heirs not from faith but from the law, it is clear that faith would be empty, nothing being fulfilled through it to the believer, and the promise through faith would become nullified if the inheritance were not given according to the promise of faith to the believer but to the one who fulfilled the law. Just as the one who believes in Jesus Christ believes in the God who sent him, so also the one who believes Moses believes in Christ, as is evident from "If you believed Moses, you would believe me"; and if the one who believes in Christ believes in the Father, it is clear that the one who believes Moses believes in God.
Thus, those justified before the law of Moses, such as Enoch who pleased God and Noah who was testified to be righteous in his generation, and those who were deemed worthy of the call of God, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who did not encounter the law of Moses, were considered as such by God, as testified by Moses who wrote the law; for indeed, the law is not laid down for the just, but for the lawless and disobedient, the ungodly and sinners. They would tell us whether they want to justify man out of nowhere or from the Mosaic law by the letter, if no one before Moses was justified, or if they were justified without the law of Moses, and as if God repented from this manner of justification as inferior and gave through Moses a better manner of justification. Therefore, it is time to say that those not so great as to be justified in the same way as the fathers without the written legislation of the law of Moses are in need for the cessation of their wickedness and for their entanglement in types and symbols and images of divine things not to lead them into idolatry. And indeed, the divine and most wise providence through the sacrifices and all the worship according to the law deterred many weaker ones from idolatry as a kind of imitation able to divert them from the nations. Since there is no transgression where the law brings forth condemnation, where this law is not. ([...] saying, leaving Adam and Eve, where there is no law, neither is there transgression, and there was no law upon Adam and Eve from Moses, neither was there transgression upon Adam and Eve. [...] adding against the apostle that not even the serpent did anything transgressive; for if where there is no law neither is there transgression, not even in this before the law did he deceive the woman, was it transgression. It is necessary to hear the apostle without reproach in these matters and to understand his intention.
For some say: If there is no law, neither is there transgression; it is clear that no one was in transgression before Moses. But if no one was, neither are they blameworthy; therefore neither Cain nor all those who suffered the flood because of their sins, nor those in Sodom, nor Adam and Eve earlier, were in transgression. It must be said, therefore, to these that the law of Moses does not produce the wrath in judgment but according to it, making some liable to stoning, others to burning by fire, or subjecting them to another punishment. But even if there is no law, neither is there transgression, when everything the law says it says to those who are under the law *** Consider them and the law named by Paul as the law of faith working the wrath of God and that there is transgression where the law of faith and God exist. Clearly, he himself says that there is another law, the law of God, which alone he delights in according to the inner man, and another law opposing this one is present in my members, warring against the law of my mind; and see whether this truly is this wrath-producing and where there is no such law, there is no transgression. And those under this law are by no means heirs, for it is said: "For if the heirs are of the law, faith is made void" *** Against those of the circumcision boasting against those who believe in uncircumcision while thinking highly of themselves, Paul writes these things, deceived by certain prophetic words which they did not understand, such as the one in Jeremiah: "If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done" *** But this rather indicates that transgression does not exist where there is no law *** thus neither should the law be accused of producing wrath in the lawless, nor should it be blamed if the understanding of transgression arises from it for those who did not keep it *** For it will be said that this law naturally engraved in us and imprinted on the fleshy tablets of our hearts by God produced wrath for Cain and those who perished in the flood, and the same for the Sodomites, and since there is no law there is no transgression, but transgression was in these, hence there was a law among them, but not the law of Moses, rather an older law engraved not on stone tablets but on the fleshy tablets of hearts *** [Rom. 4, 16–17] What is said about Abraham as though he was moved by natural notions to believe in God is disputed and especially those books testified to as misleading *** I believe that just as existence is not conceived as given to us by God as a reward (for it is clearly all grace that makes us exist and most of all rational), so also to live well and to receive God's inheritance and promise is by no means a reward and the whole is grace, leaving it to that which makes us stand here by believing in God alone *** in the catalogue of gifts given according to the measure of faith, faith itself is included; for Paul says among other things: "To one is given faith by the same Spirit." And he says elsewhere that "from God it is given to you not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for his sake."
I think that the apostles, having been persuaded that the faith which depends upon us is incomplete and confessing that they already have it, but needing the grace of God, say to the Savior: "Increase our faith." *** Therefore, if those who are heirs are from faith and the promise is by grace, not even the faith which is prior to grace, which is called by faith for this reason, that it is according to grace, can subsist without grace. *** Consequently, everything concerning the one who is being saved has its principal in grace, which I think is found by those who, let me so name them, have the good fortune to encounter it. *** That which is found as grace in the sight of the Lord God and that which is found as grace before men is different from receiving grace before someone from God, which is expressed as: "And the Lord was with Joseph and showed him merciful love and gave him grace in the sight of the keeper of the prison." For it is not the same as "Joseph found grace in the sight of his Lord" as "And the Lord gave him grace in the sight of the keeper of the prison." Additionally, more is written concerning Esther finding grace in the sight of her Lord than about Joseph. For scripture says about her that Esther "found grace in the sight of all who saw her," and shortly thereafter it says, "Esther found favor beyond all the maidens and the king set the royal crown upon her." *** It seems necessary to examine how it follows that the promise is firm both by faith and by grace. For if it were by law, would it not have been impossible for the promise to firm? Therefore, pay attention that perhaps some hue is generated by faith around the soul, and especially concerning reasonable righteousness, so that through it one holds to the grace and the promise because of its indelibility or its immutability, which does not appear concerning the works of the law. For it is said that a righteous man sometimes turns away from his righteousness and does iniquity. I do not know if it is ever written regarding faith that anyone has turned away from faith, having once been attested to believe and be justified by faith. > *** For the justifying faith cannot... perform the works of the law, and now we are talking of the law especially... when the nations that do not have the law *** to every seed, whether from the law or from his faith, and not only those from the law but also they who have the faith along with those from the law.
For if we do not take it in this way, the promise will be to those of Ishmael and those of Keturah; which is not pleasing *** but the father of us all, that is of those not only of the law but also of those of faith and justified by the faith of Abraham *** such as the many nations whom He has made him a father of, the God who gave the promises to him *** For regarding those who have died because of sin, whose soul has become dead in a living body, I think he now speaks; for the soul that sins, it shall die; and if the dead is deprived of sensations and has none of the five, why would you not call the soul dead which is deprived of the so-called divine sensations? *** And if those who trust in their so-called gods become like them, perhaps those who trust in God become like Him, acquiring through such trust what was lacking in “Let us make man in our image,” which is according to likeness *** What are the non-existent or those deprived of being and not sharing in it, thus called in contrast to those who share with the one who says: “I am He who is?” *** We find also in Esther a certain prayer: “Do not give your scepter, Lord, to those who do not exist” instead of “those who do not share in you as you are” *** He calls the non-existent so that they may obey Him and be granted existence. But perhaps someone will say in response to these things how the apostle elsewhere says: “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, and the base things of the world, and things which are despised, God has chosen, the things which are not, to nullify the things that are;” but it is clear that this signifies something different from the being and non-being as understood from the whole context there; for here those who are wise, mighty, and noble in the flesh are present, while non-entities are those who are esteemed otherwise by them as foolish of the world, weak, and ignoble *** Another one who in the flesh is impeded from understanding due to the pretense of physical constitution, such as those who are very small-headed or even monstrous *** 212 In defining or illustrating faith in the Epistle to the Hebrews, it says: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”; and subsequently in the Epistle to the Romans, Paul says this: “For we are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man sees, why does he yet hope? But if we hope for what we do not see, we with patience wait for it.” *** See then if as Abraham believed against hope in hope, so also all the sons of Abraham by faith believe against hope in hope concerning all the things they believe, whether it be about the resurrection of the dead or about inheriting the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. For these things concerning human nature are against hope, but concerning the power of God and His unfailing promises are in hope for those who hope from faith.
And since the believer believes in hope, therefore "faith, hope, and love abide." And I think that faith has the principle of initiation, hope that of progress, and love that of perfection. In this way, one might also be weak even in showing mercy, dispensing mercy not with cheerfulness but as if from sorrow or necessity. Therefore, I think it is said about love that "it believes all things," which is the same as saying "it makes all faith to be believed and to have someone have all faith," and where perfect love is, there is all faith. Despite the deadness of the body and the deadness that was in Sarah's womb real or perceived, he acted as if weak in faith, calling attention to the dead body of Abraham and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Following these, you would say that the procreation of the rest originates from natural heat, but that of Isaac by no means from natural heat, but through the praiseworthy deadness of the body of Abraham and Sarah’s womb, according to the promise of God. So, such deadness is said in praise for one who has mortified the members which are on the earth. For when one by the Spirit puts to death the deeds of the body, they extinguish all natural heat that kindles within them. Hence, Isaac's procreation is not from natural heat but from God's promise. They became worthy to be called parents of such an illustrious patriarch by mortifying the deeds of the body by the Spirit. That it is not due to old age that Abraham's body is said to be dead will be clear to the one who considers how Abraham took a wife named Keturah after the death of Sarah, and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. He took her after Sarah's death, and she lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; clearly Abraham is found to be ten years older than Sarah. Therefore, at the time of Sarah's death, Abraham was one hundred and thirty-seven years old.
If someone even after this wishes to say that the deadening of Abraham's body happened due to old age, it must be said to him that it is of grace that he, being about a hundred years old, beseeched to become the father of Isaac. How then without the promise, after he had reached a hundred and twenty-seven years old, were six other sons born to him? And, considering otherwise the time of Abraham's life, which altogether was a hundred and seventy-five years, you would say that in proportion to such a time, his body's vitality and condition had not yet been weakened when he was about a hundred years old still [...]
To be convinced that Abraham's body is not said to be dead because of old age, note that first Isaac entered the house of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah to be his wife, and he loved her, and Isaac was comforted concerning his mother. And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah. Later, Abraham took a wife whose name was Keturah. So when Abraham took a wife named Keturah, he had become a hundred [...]
[...] always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, no longer bearing the image of the earthly, but always bearing the image of the heavenly [...]
Someone might inquire by looking into these things, when it was said, “So shall your offspring be,” and that it was not yet that Ishmael had been born when Abraham was about eighty-five years old, how the apostle says after "So shall your offspring be," "And not being weak in faith, he considered his body already dead, being about a hundred years old," and would say that Abraham was not a hundred years old then [...]
[Rom. 4:23-25] "Now it was not written for his sake alone but also for us" [...]
These things are written, as Paul fashioned the phrase, "for him," being inept in his speech, as he implied instead "concerning him" [...]
It is not easy to grasp his intention or even the intention of other writings, when due to the ineptitude in expression what is written might suggest something other than what was intended, or due to the obscurity of the wording multiple interpretations of what is written are possible, each thinking to himself that whichever interpretation he accepts is useful according to his own belief, thereby causing issues for those who have different understandings [...]
Why instead of foolish talking and jesting which are not fitting, do you not engage in thanksgiving [...] or take wisdom or truth? For it didn't seem to me that the term "thanksgiving" commonly taken was connected with foolish talking and jesting.
It seemed good to me, therefore, to receive gratitude instead of a kind of grace, never excluding in the pleasures the graceful or joyful in conversation, but rejecting as vulgarity the foolish talk and jesting; and he offered very fittingly *** then I was seeking if somewhere the sacred scripture used the term "grateful" instead of "graceful"; I found indeed in the Proverbs "A grateful woman raises glory for her husband," but in the other editions instead of "A grateful woman" "A woman... I believe it is written grace *** when Paul says: "Before God and opposite God we speak in Christ," and having used the word "opposite," as it contains in many places of the old testament, meaning simply as if "in the sight" of God, the followers of Marcion heard more malignly "Opposite to God we speak in Christ" as if oppositely to the will of God whom they say of another creator besides him, saying that Paul spoke both before him who they say is good and oppositely as they say to the creator *** For believing in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, they will hear it as another God in whom Abraham believed and they say that Jews believe indeed in God as Abraham believed, yet they do not believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead *** and Jews also not believing that Jesus our Lord was raised from the dead do not believe in the one who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead; and not believing in him they do not believe in God; hence there is no faith in them as the faith which Abraham had who believed in God and it was accounted to him as righteousness *** now it has been taken for him alone instead of about him alone; but also it is taken for us instead of about us; for it is not that Abraham from the more ancient instance of Moses' writing was benefited. But if the "It was credited to him as righteousness" was not written for Abraham alone but also for us, as if the word was anticipating the righteousness credited from faith to those who believe in the one who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, consider more carefully lest anyone merely believes in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead together with Christ, so as to say "He also raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus"; raised with Christ is the one who has become conformed to his resurrection and because he has died together he lives with him; if we died with him, we shall also live with him; he died with Christ, since Christ also died to sin once for all; and the one who died to sin lives with Christ; and he lives with Christ who walks in newness of life *** For he was raised for our justification by his resurrection, justifying us being conformed to his resurrection *** who was delivered for his [that man's] sins and was raised for the sake of his justification as he became righteous as righteousness began to be in him from faith credited to him as righteousness *** how each is to do the works of Abraham, to leave his land and his relatives and his father's house to the land which the Lord will show to the one leaving these things, and if anyone does so, to attain the rewards promised to Abraham for these things *** [Rom. 5, 1–2] For it is not possible to have peace with God while practicing works contrary to virtue, which make the doer an enemy to God, hence it is said "Enemies of God" to which is added the "We were reconciled" *** God indeed... causing his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sending rain on the righteous and the unrighteous completes the things of his peace towards us, but by sinning we make ourselves enemies of God, by doing right we become friends, so also we have peace with God; and to take the main thing opposite to peace among sinners, I would say that the one doing right has peace with God, but the one doing opposite things, that is sinning, chooses and has war with God, and by doing evil he wars against God *** And we have had access through none other than through Jesus Christ our Lord; for the Word and truth and wisdom and righteousness and all else, which our Savior the firstborn of all creation is, leads him who has given himself to these things to God and Father who is over all *** And see how great is the grace that it is written about a few, "He found grace in the sight of God."