We find, then, that he came to this place in such a way that above he had said: But now Christ has risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep; for he was treating of the resurrection of the dead, which took place in the Lord according to the assumption of the man. It is clear, therefore, that this was said according to the assumption of the man. But another question is wont to arise in this chapter. First, what is said, 'When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father,' as though the Father does not now hold the kingdom; then, what is said, 'For He must reign, until He shall put all His enemies under His feet,' as though He were not to reign afterward — and to this pertains what was said above, 'Then the end';
which heretics with sacrilegious opinion so take, as though he called 'the end' the consummation of His kingdom — whereas it is written in the Gospel: 'And of His kingdom there shall be no end.' Lastly, what is said: 'But when all things shall be subjected to Him, then shall the Son Himself also be subject to Him who subjected all things to Him,' they wish to understand as though now either something is not subject to the Son, or He Himself is not subject to the Father. The question is therefore resolved by a manner of speech: for Scripture very often speaks thus, so that what always is, is then said to come to pass in someone, when it begins to be known by him. For so we say in the Lord's Prayer: 'Hallowed be Thy name' — not as though it were at some time not holy.
Therefore just as 'Hallowed be' means 'let it be known to be holy,' so also 'when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father' — that is, when He shall have shown the Father to reign — so that through manifestation and display it may become clear, which is now believed by the faithful and is not thought so by the unbelieving. And He shall make void every principality and power, by manifesting indeed the kingdom of the Father: that it may be known to all that no one of the princes and powers, whether heavenly or earthly, had of themselves any principality or power, but from Him from whom are all things — not only that they might be, but also that they might be ordered. For in that manifestation no hope will remain to anyone in any prince, or in any man: as even now it is prophetically sung:
'It is good to hope in the Lord, rather than to hope in man. It is good to hope in the Lord, rather than to hope in princes': so that by this meditation the soul may already rise up into the kingdom of the Father, neither magnifying the power of any one besides Him, nor most perniciously flattering itself in its own strength. He therefore delivers up the kingdom to God and the Father, when through Him the Father is known by open sight. For His kingdom are those in whom He now reigns through faith. For in one way the kingdom of Christ is spoken of according to the power of the divinity, in that every creature is subject to Him; and in another way His kingdom is called the Church, according to the property of that faith which is in Him, according to which he prays who says: 'Possess us.'
For it is not that He does not Himself possess all things, according to which is also said that: 'When you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness.' He shall therefore make void every principality and every power and might, so that to no one beholding the Father through the Son may there be need or pleasure to rest in the power of any creature, or in his own. For He must reign until He shall put all His enemies under His feet — that is, His kingdom must be so far manifested, until all His enemies confess that He Himself reigns. This is not to be understood that His enemies shall be beneath His feet. But if we take it of the just, they are for this reason called enemies, because from unjust they are justified, and by believing are made subject to Him.
But concerning the unjust, who do not belong to the future blessedness of the just, it is to be taken thus: that they too, put to confusion by the very manifestation of His kingdom, shall confess that He reigns. Therefore He must reign, until He shall put all His enemies under His feet: it is not so said as though, when He shall have put His enemies under His feet, He would not reign afterward; but He must reign, until He shall put all His enemies under His feet. He must, he says, bring His kingdom to such evidence, until His enemies shall in no way dare to deny that He reigns. Sometimes the sacred writings take the word 'until' for a conjunction, by which 'and' or 'that' can be indicated. For it is written:
'Until she brought forth her son' — that is, 'and she brought forth her son.' It is also written: 'Our eyes are unto the Lord our God, until He have mercy upon us' — that is, 'that He may have mercy upon us.' Nor yet for this reason, when He shall have had mercy upon us, ought we to turn our eyes away from Him. For our blessedness is great in so far as we enjoy the contemplation of Him. So then this too is said: 'The intention of our eyes is not extended to the Lord, except until we obtain His mercy' — not that it should afterward be turned away from Him, but that it should seek nothing more from Him beyond that. 'Until,' therefore, is put in place of what is not to be understood any further.
For to what further point — that is, up to what greater manifestation — shall the kingdom of Christ be manifested, save until all His enemies confess that He reigns? It is one thing, therefore, to be manifested no further, and another to remain no longer. To be manifested no further is not to become more manifest; to remain no longer is not to become more enduring. But when shall the kingdom of Christ be more manifest than when it shall have shone forth to all His enemies? The last enemy, death, shall be destroyed: for there will be nothing else to be destroyed after this mortal shall have put on immortality. For He has subjected all things under His feet: that is, that He may destroy even death. But when He says that all things are subject, this the prophet doubtless said in the Psalms:
it is manifest that, except Him who subjected all things to Him, he means the Father to be understood to have subjected all things to the Son: as in many places the same Lord in the Gospel commends and preaches, not only on account of the form of the servant, but also on account of the beginning, from which He is, and to which He is equal, and from which He is. For He loves to refer all things to one beginning, as being His image: but in whom dwells all the fullness of the divinity. But when all things shall be subjected to Him, then shall the Son Himself also be subject to Him who subjected all things to Him: not as though it were not so now, but then it shall be manifest, according to the manner of speech treated above. That God may be all in all.
He Himself is the end which he mentioned above, when he wished first briefly to conclude the whole, and then to unfold and expound it as it were member by member. For he was speaking of the resurrection, where he says: The beginning, Christ; then they that are Christ's in His presence; then the end. He Himself, namely, is the end, that God may be all in all. For 'end' is spoken of in one way as pertaining to consummation, in another as pertaining to consumption. For a tunic is finished in one way by weaving, food in another by eating. But God is said to be all in all, so that none of those who cleave to Him may love his own will against Him: and it may be manifest to all what the same Apostle says in another place: 'But what have you that you have not received?'
There are likewise those who understand this place thus: 'He must reign until He shall put all His enemies under His feet' — so that they say 'to reign' is here put under another signification, not that under which 'kingdom' is put, of which he says: 'When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father'; so that he called that 'kingdom' by which God rules the whole creation, but called this 'to reign' in such a way that it is understood as leading an army against an enemy, or defending a city; so that he therefore said, 'He must reign until He shall put all His enemies under His feet,' because of such a kingdom as the commanders of armed men have there will be no cause, once the enemy is so subdued that he cannot make war. For surely it is said in the Gospel:
'And of His kingdom there shall be no end' — according to that whereby He reigns for ever; but according to that whereby war is waged under Him against the devil, this warfare will surely last so long, until He shall put all His enemies under His feet; but afterward it will not be, when we shall enjoy perpetual peace. But these things are so said, that we may know it ought to be considered more diligently also in what respect the Lord now reigns: that is, according to the dispensation of His mystery through the incarnation and passion. For according to that whereby He is the Word of God, His kingdom is as much without end as without beginning and without interruption. But according to that whereby the Word was made flesh, He began to reign in believers through faith in His incarnation.
Whence also is that saying: 'The Lord has reigned from the tree.' But hence He made void every principality and power and might, in that men become believers in Him not through His glory, but through the lowliness of the servant. This is that which is hidden from the wise and prudent, and revealed to little ones, because it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe: nor does the Apostle say that he knows anything among the little ones save Christ Jesus, and Him crucified. Of which preaching there is need for so long, until all His enemies be put under His feet:
that is, until all worldly pride yield and be made subject to His very lowliness, which I think is signified by the name of 'feet' — as for the most part has now been done, and we see it daily coming to pass. But to what end are these things done? That the kingdom may be delivered up to God and the Father: that is, that He may lead those nourished by faith in His incarnation to the sight whereby He is equal to the Father. Already He was speaking to those who had believed, when He said: 'If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.' For He delivers up the kingdom to the Father when He shall reign in those who contemplate the truth whereby He is equal to the Father; and through Himself, the Only-Begotten, He shall make the Father to be seen by open sight.
For now He reigns in believers through this, that He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. But then He shall deliver up the kingdom to God and the Father, when He shall have made void every principality and power and might. Whence shall He make it void, save by lowliness, and patience, and weakness? For what principality is not made void, when the Son of God reigns in believers for this reason, that the princes of this world judged Him? What power is not made void, when He Himself, through whom all things were made, reigns in believers for this reason, that He was so subject to the powers that He might say to a man: 'You would have no power over Me, unless it were given you from above'?
What might is not made void, when He Himself, through whom the heavens were made firm, reigns in believers for this reason, that He was weakened even unto the cross and death? But in this manner the Son properly reigns in the faith of believers. For the Father cannot be said or believed to have been either incarnate, or judged, or crucified; but through the open sight whereby He is equal to the Father, He reigns with the Father in those who contemplate the truth. But whereas He shall deliver up the kingdom to God and the Father, leading those who now believe in Him from faith in His incarnation to the open sight of the deity, He Himself shall not lose it, but each of the two offers Himself as one to be enjoyed by those who contemplate.
For so long is there need that, in men not yet able to behold the equality of the Father and the Son with the clear light of the mind, Christ reign through that which such men are able to grasp, and which He Himself properly took upon Himself — that is, the lowliness of the incarnation — until He put all His enemies under His feet, that is, until all worldly pride be made subject to the lowliness of His incarnation. And rightly, as to what was said:
'Then shall the Son Himself also be subject to Him who subjected all things to Him' — although it be said according to the assumption of the man, because the question arose thence, since he was treating of the resurrection of the dead, yet it is rightly asked whether it be said only according to Him who is the Head of the Church, or according to the whole Christ, His body and members being reckoned in. For when he says to the Galatians: 'He does not say, and to his seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to your seed, which is Christ' — lest we should understand only that Christ in this place who was born of the Virgin Mary, he afterward says: 'For you are all one in Christ Jesus. But if you are Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed.'
To the Corinthians, when he was speaking of charity, drawing a likeness from the members of the body: 'For as the body is one,' he says, 'and has many members, but all the members of the body, though they be many, are one body, so also is Christ' — he did not say, 'so also are Christ's,' but 'so also is Christ,' showing that the whole is rightly called Christ, that is, the Head with His body, which is the Church. And in many places of the Scriptures we find Christ called also in this manner, so that He is understood together with all His members, to whom it is said: 'You are the body of Christ, and members.' Not absurdly, therefore, do we thus understand: 'Then shall the Son Himself also be subject to Him who subjected all things to Him';
so that we understand as the Son not only the Head of the Church, but all the saints together with Him, who are one in Christ, one seed of Abraham. And He is subject according to the contemplation of the everlasting truth, unto the obtaining of blessedness, with no motion of the mind and no part of the body resisting — in that life where none loves his own power, but God is all in all. Furthermore. Moreover. What shall they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead rise not at all, why also are they baptized for them? Whosoever of us are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in His death. For all of us who are baptized are so baptized as to be already as it were dead. What profit is it, then, that we die to this world, if eternal life does not follow this labor?
Why also do we stand in jeopardy every hour? I die daily for your glory, brethren. If there were nothing in the future, we would not be so foolish as to suffer such things for others. Which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. I have the reward of my labor, even if you were unwilling to make progress. If, after the manner of men, I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me, if the dead rise not? If you hope that I receive no recompense from God, then I fought in vain, perhaps to please men. And otherwise, by allegory, the 'beasts' are understood as the adversary powers. As in the Psalm: 'Deliver not to the beasts the soul that confesses to You.' And many things are said in the Epistles which are not found in the Acts, and many things in the Acts which are not said in the Epistles.
'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die.' The prophet Isaiah rebukes those given over to gluttony because they despair of things to come; and he declares that the guilt of this blasphemy is not remitted to them until they die. 'Do not be led astray.' By those who do such things. 'Evil conversations corrupt good manners.' Lest they should say, 'Do you then think that we can be led astray?' meeting their thought, he says: 'It is not for you that I fear, but for the shiftiness of those men that I am afraid.' Conversely, good conversations restore corrupt manners. 'Awake. Be sober. You just.' He proves that those who have given themselves over to gluttony and pleasures do not believe in the resurrection. 'And do not sin. For some have ignorance of God.'
That man is just who does not sin, that is, does not commit a capital sin; or if he is suddenly overtaken, he blots it out by doing penance, because he believes that he will render an account in the judgment. For he who does not believe in the resurrection, despairing, commits every unspeakable deed. Many are wont to raise the question whether feeble bodies rise again just as they died. To these it must be answered that in the resurrection nature is restored, not the fault of infirmity. For a body is never so feeble as when it lies hidden in the dust. He, then, who is believed to render back the whole, why should there be doubt that he restores a part? Why should he not give back the eyes, who will restore the whole body? 'I speak to your reverence. But someone will say: How do the dead rise? and with what kind of body do they come?'
They are ignorant of the power of God who think that he cannot raise the dead, measuring the divinity by their own weakness; so that you should blush to instruct you with such arguments as if you were little children. 'Foolish man, that which you sow is not made alive unless it first dies.' Foolish man, you who ought to have been taught even by natural things not to doubt concerning the resurrection. Are you still incredulous of the divine promises? From the habit of your own labor you ought to have considered what we say. 'And what you sow, you do not sow the body that shall be, but a bare grain: of wheat, for instance, or of some of the rest. But God gives it a body as he wills.' Just as from the grain there rises a more fruitful ear with its grains, so the corruptible body shall rise into an increase of glory.
'And to each of the seeds its own body.' Whence blessed Job says: 'And in my flesh I shall see God.' 'Not all flesh is the same flesh.' Note that he said 'its own body,' not another's. 'But one is the flesh of men, another of cattle, another the flesh of birds, and another of fishes.' Understand likewise concerning the waters, which brought forth such a diversity of birds and fishes. 'And there are heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies.' Since he made such bodies of the elements, why should he not remake the small human body? 'But one is the glory of the heavenly, and another of the earthly. One is the brightness of the moon, another the brightness of the stars.' Every diversity of comparison serves this end, that you may believe that he who made so much out of nothing can easily restore one thing. 'For star differs from star in brightness:'
'so also is the resurrection of the dead.' He compares the diversity of the stars to the difference of the just, whom virtues, not sins, will make to differ. For among the just the diversity of sins will not be in heaven, but in punishment. 'It is sown in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption.' So that it may suffer neither fevers nor the rest. 'It is sown in dishonor.' What is so ignoble as a dead body? 'It shall rise in glory.' It shall rise into the glory of splendor, like the sun. 'It is sown in weakness.' In human feebleness. 'It shall rise in power.' In the power of angelic eternity. 'It is sown a natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body.' Here indeed it is a natural body, because we do not always possess the Holy Spirit; but then he will always be in us.
'If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.' Such as can go to meet Christ. 'As it is written: The first man Adam was made into a living soul.' This testimony is from the law. 'The last Adam into a life-giving Spirit.' Why is he called the second man, or the last Adam, after so many men? Whoever imitates his footsteps is reckoned the first Adam; that man is the last who follows the footsteps of the Lord. The Lord is called the last from the first for this reason: that up to the first man death, discovered by that very first man, came down; that up to the cross the fall of the first man held sway; and therefore the first man was given over to death, the last to salvation: the first living, the latter making alive. 'But that which is spiritual is not first, but that which is carnal, then that which is spiritual.'
'The first man is of the earth, earthy.' It is to be noted that when he speaks of two Adams, he shows both to be of the same nature; for as the one was without a father, so the other was without seed. 'The second man is from heaven, heavenly.' By this reasoning Christ is the man from heaven, because at the baptism of John not water but grace descended from heaven. And because he assumed flesh without sin, and God deigned to be born of the Virgin. 'As is the earthy, such also are the earthy; and as is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly.' Understand Christ to be heavenly in this way, because he is wholly without sin, not because he brought his flesh from heaven. 'Therefore as we have borne the image of the earthy.' The sinner bears the image of Adam, but the just man the image of Christ.
'Let us also bear the image of the heavenly'—the old man before baptism, the new man after baptism. 'But this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot possess the kingdom of God; neither shall corruption possess incorruption.' Frequently Scripture names the works of the flesh in place of the substance, as there: 'But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit.' Otherwise: The flesh, as it now is, shall not possess the kingdom of God, unless it be clothed with immortality. 'Behold, I tell you a mystery.' By naming it a mystery he signifies something obscure. 'We shall all indeed rise.' We shall all rise who shall be found dead when Christ comes. 'But we shall not all be changed.' Those who shall be found in the body—because the saints shall be taken up, but sinners shall be left to eternal fire.
For those sinners who shall be found alive, first burned by the fires, shall then rise—those sinners who shall be found alive at the coming of the Lord. 'But we shall not all be changed.' Because the just shall rise to glory, sinners to punishment. 'In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.' He wishes to signify the brevity of the moment. 'At the last trumpet.' Some understand two trumpets, the two comings of Christ. 'For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise.' First the dead shall rise, and thus the saints shall be changed, so that this may be called the last trumpet. 'Incorruptible.' That they may endure forever in punishment. 'And we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.'
'But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality.' There is that which puts on and that which is put on. 'Then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory.' The causes of death having been done away. 'Where, O death, is your victory? where, O death, is your sting? Where, O death, is your strife?' What strife, except that now the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh? This is the fight, this the strife; but he speaks in the person of the just who insult death. 'But the sting of death is sin.' The arrow of death is sin, by which souls are slain. 'But the power of sin is the law.' Sin becomes stronger through knowledge. Why is the law the power of sin, if the law is good?
Because sin, working death through what is good, that it might become sinful beyond measure—that is, might receive greater strength from transgression. 'But thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' The victory over that sin by which the law was made weak, through our carnal pleasure which Christ destroyed by his cross. 'Therefore, my beloved brethren.' Having given the account of the resurrection about which they doubted, he exhorts them to persevere in the work of God, being now certain of the reward to come. 'Be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.' Let no one move you further from this degree of hope. 'Knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.' That is, you do not labor without cause. CHAPTER XVI. — Concerning the collection.
'Now concerning the collections which are made for the saints, as I have ordained for the churches of Galatia, so do you also.' He speaks of the contributions which, gathered through the individual churches, were sent to Jerusalem for the poor saints. 'On the first day of the week let each one of you.' The first day of the week is the Lord's day, as it is written in the Gospel that the Lord rose on the first day of the week. 'Set aside by himself, laying up whatever pleases him well: so that the collections be not made only when I come. But when I am present, whomever you approve by letters, these I will send to carry your gift to Jerusalem.' So that, laying it up little by little, they may not think themselves burdened all in one hour, that they may be cheerful givers who are loved by God. 'And if it be fitting that I also go, they shall go with me.'
If your offering be such that it can be worthily presented by me. 'But I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia. For I shall pass through Macedonia. But with you perhaps I shall remain, or even winter, that you may set me forward wherever I go.' 'For I do not wish to see you now only in passing.' Because the Macedonians are so disposed that it is not necessary to linger long among them. But among you it is necessary that I remain or winter: for there are many things that need correcting among you; for the physician too tarries there where the more are sick. 'For I hope to remain some time with you, if the Lord permit. But I will remain at Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great and evident door is opened to me, and there are many adversaries.'
'But if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear; for he works the work of the Lord, as I also do. Let no one therefore despise him. But set him forward in peace, that he may come to me: for I await him with the brethren. But concerning our brother Apollos, I greatly entreated him to come to you with the brethren: and it was by no means his will to come now. But he will come when he has opportunity. Watch, stand fast in the faith, act manfully, and be strengthened. Let all your affairs be done in charity.' Therefore I shall remain there, because an evident opportunity of preaching has arisen for me, and very many are those who resist, but to very many God has opened the door of the heart, and many unbelievers have resisted. 'But I beseech you, brethren:'
'you know the household of Stephanas and Fortunatus, that they are the firstfruits of Achaia.' Either the firstfruits in faith, or in honor. 'And they have set themselves in the ministry of the saints.' For the teaching of the saints or for ministering necessary things to them. 'That you also may be subject to such, and to everyone who cooperates and labors.' Who cooperate with us or with them in the Gospel of Christ. 'But I rejoice at the presence of Stephanas, and Fortunatus, and Achaicus.' Who are present with you. 'Because what was lacking to you'—in knowledge—'they themselves have supplied.' By teaching, or by example. 'For they have refreshed both my spirit and yours.' My spirit with joy over your progress, but yours by the instruction of teaching. 'Acknowledge therefore those who are such. The churches of Asia salute you.'
'Aquila and Prisca [Vulgate: Priscilla] salute you much in the Lord always.' As elsewhere: 'Mark those who walk so, as you have us for a pattern.' Here 'acknowledge' stands for 'honor,' recognizing their labor. 'With their household church.' The domestic gathering of the brotherhood is called a church. 'All the brethren salute you, among whom also I lodge. Salute one another with a holy kiss.' Not feigned, like Judas. 'The salutation of me Paul with my own hand. If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha.' As to those who love him Christ shall come as redemption, so to those who do not love him there comes anathema: that is, that he may abhor and destroy them. 'The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.' It is a subscription: