CHAPTER 3
LECTURE 2
7 * Of whom I am made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God, which is given to me according to the operation of his power.
8 To me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
9 And to enlighten all men, that they may see what is the dispensation of the mystery which hath been hidden from eternity in God who created all things.
After the Apostle has discussed the grace given him relative to the knowledge of divine mysteries (3:3), he indicates the same with respect to carrying these mysteries themselves into effect. Concerning this he makes two points:
First, he acknowledges the assistance of grace granted him to put them into practice.
Secondly, he speaks of the ministerial duty confided to him (3:8).
The first has two divisions:
First, he briefly treats of putting divine mysteries into effect.
Secondly, he shows how help has been given him (3:7b).
The realization of divine realities was committed to him by way of a ministry. He says in relation to this: I assert that this ministry has been entrusted to me, that the Gentiles are co-heirs by the Gospel and through it they share as well in God’s promise in Christ Jesus, of whom I am made a minister . As though he stated: I do not fulfill or carry out [this mystery] as if it came from me or was mine, but as a ministry belonging to God. ‘Tor this man is to me a vessel of election, to carry my name before the Gentiles” (Act. 9:15). “Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and the dispensers of the mysteries of God” (I Cor. 4:1).
When he writes according to the gift of the grace of God he touches on the aid granted him to carry out the mysteries. This type of assistance was twofold. One was the capacity to put them into effect, and another was the very actions or activities themselves. * God bestows the capability by infusing the virtue and grace through which a man is able and fit for action; while he confers the action itself insofar as he moves us interiorly and spurs us on to good. Receiving both from God, the Apostle acknowledges the first in saying: I am made a minister , certainly not on my own merits, nor by my own virtue, but according to the gift of the grace of God which is given to me . For I was made worthy to realize the divine mysteries which previously I had persecuted. I have labored more abundantly than all they. Yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). In reference to the second he states according to the operation which God effects inasmuch as his power causes us both to will and to act in accord with good will.
This can be interpreted in another way according to a Gloss. * What is said here refers to what immediately preceded (v. 6). For the pagans to have become co-heirs, and of the same body, and co-partners of God the Father’s promise-this is a gift God gave the Gentiles in Christ. That is, they come through Christ, according to the operation of his power in that he has powerfully acted in raising Christ from the dead.
Next (v. 8), he speaks of the duty entrusted to him; the grace of such a commission has three qualities to recommend it:
First, the condition of the person himself [to whom it is entrusted].
Secondly, the greatness of what is confided to him (3:8b).
Thirdly, the good that results as its fruit (3:10 ff.).
The office confided to him is recommended from this person’s condition. For if some king entrusted an important office to a great and high-ranking prince, he would not be doing him a very great favor since he would be placing an important person in an important position. But if he entrusts a great and exceedingly difficult duty to an insignificant person, he would greatly honor him and do him a considerable favor; the more so in proportion as the eminence of the office exceeds him. In this fashion Paul praises the gratuity of the office confided to himself: To me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace. He calls himself the least , not because of the power granted him, but in recognition of his former state: “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor. 15:9). “The least shall become a thousand, and a little one a most strong nation” (Is. 60:22). This [duty was to be fulfilled] among the Gentiles , that is, throughout the nations. “For he who wrought in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision wrought in me also among the Gentiles. And, when they had known the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision” (Gal. 2:8-9).
In the second place (3:8b), the grace of his mission is commended by reason of the magnitude of his task: to reveal and clarify the great and hidden secrets of God. Think of the greatness of Christ and of the salvation of those who believe which he accomplished. The entire Gospel concerns these two.
Regarding the first he says to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, as if to assert: To proclaim the good is the grace given me. “Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel” (I Cor. 1: 17). “Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel” (I Cor. 9:16). This good is the unsearchable riches of Christ which are true wealth. “God who is rich in mercy... hath quickened us together in Christ” (Eph. 2:4); “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and patience, and longsuffering?” (Rom. 2:4); “The same is Lord over all, rich unto all that call upon him” (Rom. 10:12). These riches are unsearchable indeed, he affirms, since they are as great as his mercy which can be neither understood nor analyzed. “Riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is his treasure” (Is. 33:6), referring to Christ since reverence of the Lord found its most plentiful expression in Christ. “And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord” (Is. 11:3).
In Christ “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). They are unsearchable because Christ’s wisdom and knowledge cannot be analyzed. “Peradventure thou wilt comprehend the steps of God, and wilt find out the Almighty perfectly?” (Job 11:7). The implied answer is, No. For creatures, in whom a trace of their Creator is visible, * do not provide us with a perfect understanding of Him. Struck by the wonder of these riches, the Apostle exclaimed: “O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his waysl” (Rom. 11:33). “Who hath searched out the wisdom of God that goeth before all things?” (Ecclus. 1:3).
Concerning the second—to make known the salvation which comes from Christ to those who believe—he says to enlighten all men , not only the Jews, but the Gentiles as well, through preaching and miracles. I will enlighten all that hope in the Lord” (Ecclus. 24:45). “This man is to me a vessel of election, to carry my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Ac. 9:15); “You are the light of the world” (Mt. 5:14). To enlighten , I say, insofar as I can, all who want to believe. For God “will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4) in order that they might understand what is the dispensation of the mystery . For these [mysteries] would be of no use if they were not imparted [to men]. As if he claimed: I shall enlighten men on how awe-inspiring the mystery of our redemption is, and from what an immense love it was accomplished. Inexhaustible riches of this sort are imparted to you through Christ.
Yet it might be objected: What you speak of is known to all, even if it is great. The Apostle gives a negative reply, it hath been hidden from eternity. Here it should be noted how everything present in an effect is concealed in the power of its causes. For example, in the power of the sun is contained everything that exists among the realities which come into being and cease to be. * Nevertheless, certain [effects] are hidden there, and others are evident. For instance, heat is evidently in fire while the intelligibility of other [effects], which it produces in a more hidden manner, are said to be concealed in it. Now God is the efficient cause of everything; he makes some things whose intelligibility is open [to investigation], namely, those created through the mediation of second causes. * Other effects, however, which he immediately produces by himself are hidden in him.
Since God accomplished by himself the mystery of human redemption, this mystery is hidden in him alone. Thus he states that it is hidden from eternity in God , known to him only. Yet, to seek out the secrets of the First Cause is the greatest [wisdom]: “We speak wisdom among the perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, neither of the princes of this world that come to nought. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, a wisdom which is hidden, which God ordained before the world” (1 Cor. 2:6-7). He, I say, who created all things.