The Letter to the Romans: A Short Commentary

By Frederick Dale Bruner

In the wake of his widely appreciated commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of John, noted theologian and exegete Frederick Dale Bruner turns his attention to Paul’s letter to the Romans. In this concise commentary, he relays his findings on what he calls the “Fifth Gospel” and its central claim that “through the Father’s love, Jesus’s passion, and the Spirit’s application of this passionate love, human beings can have a perfectly right relationship with God—by simple faith in His Christ.” 

As he did in his commentaries on Matthew and John, Bruner engages historical interpreters from the patristic period to the present—including Augustine, Chrysostom, Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin—while also offering his own lucid translation of the text and relevant pastoral applications. The result is a holistic understanding of the book of Romans informed not only by one scholar’s lifetime of ministry, teaching, and learning, but also by the full depth and breadth of church tradition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Release date: Oct 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781467463010

Frederick Dale Bruner

  Frederick Dale Bruner is the George and Lyda Wasson Professor of Religion Emeritus at Whitworth University. His other books include A Theology of the Holy Spirit: The Pentecostal Experience and the New Testament Witness and commentaries on the Gospels of Matthew and John.

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Front Cover of The Letter to the RomansHalf Title of The Letter to the RomansBook Title of The Letter to the Romans

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

4035 Park East Court SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

www.eerdmans.com

© 2021 Frederick Dale Bruner

All rights reserved

Published 2021

Printed in the United States of America

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ISBN 978-0-8028-7943-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bruner, Frederick Dale, author.

Title: The letter to the Romans : a short commentary / Frederick Dale Bruner.

Description: Grand Rapids, Michigan : William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and indexes. | Summary: A concise commentary on Paul’s letter to the Romans that engages with historical interpreters, incorporates a lucid translation of the text, and offers a pastoral application to present-day experience—Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021013195 | ISBN 9780802879431 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Romans—Commentaries.

Classification: LCC BS2665.53 .B788 2021 | DDC 227/.107—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021013195

CONTENTS

Preface

THE FIFTH GOSPEL

Romans 1

Paul’s Introduction: Our Deep Need for the Gospel Good News

Romans 2:1–3:20

The Righteous Judgment of God on All Human Sin

Romans 3:21–31

God’s Good News in Classic Compactness: Because of Christ’s Perfectly Sacrificial Work, a Perfectly Right Relationship with God Is Received by Simple Faith

Romans 4

Simple Faith in God’s Gracious Word: The Even Ancient Way to the Right Relation with God

Romans 5

Our New Gospel Privileges and the Old Roots of Our Relation with God

Romans 6

Sanctification’s Presence

Romans 7

Sanctification’s Presence and Absence

Romans 8

Sanctification’s Key: Believers in Jesus Christ Have God’s Holy Spirit within Their Lives

Romans 9:1–29

God’s Election of Israel

Romans 9:30–10:21

Israel’s Initial Unbelief in God’s Plan of Righteousness by Simple Faith

Romans 11

The Mystery of Israel and the Church

Romans 12

The Practical Ethic of the Gospel, Part 1

Romans 13

The Practical Ethic of the Gospel, Part 2

Romans 14:1–15:13

How Believers Can Deal with Certain Differences among Themselves

Romans 15:14–16:27

Paul’s Letter Conclusions

Bibliography

PREFACE

A Personal Introduction to My Interpretation of the Fifth Gospel

My entire academic and even postacademic life (at the Union Theological Seminary of the Philippines, 1964–75, and at Whitworth University, 1975–97, plus a good portion of my retirement since) has been spent in the delicious studying, teaching, and finally publishing commentaries on just two books of the Bible: Matthew (1987, 2004) and John (2012). It was a huge personal and academic leap, therefore, to plunge this last near decade, entirely and wholeheartedly, into studying, teaching, and now finally writing a commentary on Paul’s magisterial Letter to the Romans. I soon discovered that I was studying and teaching the same One Gospel that Matthew and John taught, with their shared passionate Christocentricity, but that Paul’s Gospel taught Jesus propositionally rather than pictorially. Paul’s Romans is the same One Gospel, but it is written with deep sentences rather than with deep stories. I was in the same world, but I was now looking at this world from an entirely new angle, and this angle was exhilarating. I was now looking at this One Gospel down below, in its rich depths, rather than up above, in its fascinating and colorful heights.

Thus began my journey, at the same time, into the rich commentary world that has signally investigated these Romans depths. Most of the scholars in this new commentary world have spent much of their scholarly lives mining the gold down deep in this their chosen masterwork. My conversation with Paul’s texts is almost as often a conversation with these fellow miners, who have given their lives to understanding exactly what Paul said and meant in his deep sentences. I will consistently highlight the commentators’ names when I engage their insights throughout the commentary. It has also been fulfilling to become acquainted with many of the major Romans commentators across the centuries—from the troublesome Origen (ca. 185–254) to the towering Charles Cranfield (1915–2015). I hope that some of my readers will also seek the friendship of some of these commentators as they, too, seek to understand the meaning of Paul’s masterpiece.

There is a pretty wide scholarly consensus that Paul wrote his letter in the AD 50s from Corinth, just prior to his last and fateful visit to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem Paul was arrested but was eventually brought to Rome (as the Roman citizen he was) by protective Roman authorities and was made a (surprisingly privileged) house-prisoner there. From this unusual location and situation, Paul was allowed to invite and to talk Gospel with Jewish and Christian visitors of his choice. (See the last two-thirds of Acts 28, the final chapter of Acts, for fascinating details of Paul’s final premartyr days in Rome.)

Paul wrote his Letter to the Romans several years before the Four Gospels were written in the subsequent decades of the first century. And so my calling the letter The Fifth Gospel is not meant chronologically; it is meant as an appeal to readers to join Paul in his unique take on the depth of what the more popular Four found in the breadth (Matthew), the base (Mark), the length (Luke), and the height (John) of their telling of the good news of Jesus the Messiah. Paul’s Fifth spells out the finally deepest meaning of the later-written but now book-preceding Four—the meaning, namely, that through the Father’s Love, Jesus’ Passion, and the Spirit’s Application of this Passionate Love—human beings can have a perfectly right relationship with God—by simple faith in his Christ. This emphasized sixteen-word claim is the central message of Paul’s Letter to the Romans. If this meaning is really, historically, and factually true, it is, of course, Very Good News (which is the literal meaning of the Greek word eu-angelion and of the English word gospel, from earlier English gōd-spel, good tale). If the Multiform Gospel is not read, in any of its rich forms, with this final appreciation and, decisively—with some personal interaction with the offer of this Very Good News—it is read without the profit these books so passionately seek. Most of us who write church commentary believe that the Good News of Jesus Christ is not only interesting and not only important but that it is the Truth—the sober and single most important truth on the planet. Let us give the Apostle Paul a fair hearing and then decide afresh, for ourselves, whether this church-believed Truth is also, in fact, credible Truth.

Two persons have been particularly helpful in my writing the commentary. My wife, Kathy, with her theological passion, cheerfulness, and common sense, has given me constant counsel. And my Eerdmans editor, Craig Noll, has been so careful and encouraging in his readings of and suggestions for the clearer writing of the commentary. God bless all such spouses and editors!

AN OUTLINE OF THE ROMANS’ WHOLE

Paul’s Introductory Remarks and the Theme of the Gospel: 1:1–17

I.Human Sin: 1:18–3:20

II.Divine Grace: 3:21–5:21

III.Christian Life: 6:1–8:39

IV.Divine Election: 9:1–11:36

V.Practical Christian Ethics: 12:1–15:13

Paul’s Concluding Remarks and His Personal Greetings to the Roman Christians: 15:14–16:27

AN OUTLINE OF THE ROMANS’ PARTICULARS: A TABLE OF CONTENTS

ROMANS 1: Paul’s Introduction: Our Deep Need for the Gospel Good News

I.Paul Introduces Himself and the Good News to the Roman Christians, 1:1–7

II.Paul’s Special Prayer, Affirmation, Thanksgiving, and Petition for His Readers, 1:8–15

III.Paul’s Classic Compact Introduction to the Meaning of the Good News, 1:16–17

IV.The Sad News: Why the Good News of God’s Righteousness Is So Urgent, 1:18–32

Appendix to Romans 1: Messianic Foretellings

ROMANS 2:1–3:20: The Righteous Judgment of God on All Human Sin

Preface: Extra-Romans Introductions to the Subject of Judging

A.Jesus in Matthew 7

B.Jesus in Luke 18

C.Paul to the Corinthian Christians

I.The Righteous Judgment of God on All Human Beings, 2:1–16

A.Paul’s Introductory Paragraph on Judgment, 2:1–11

B.Paul’s Second Paragraph on Judgment, 2:12–16

II.The Righteous Judgment of God Also on the Jewish People of God, 2:17–29 and 3:1–8

A.Paul’s Third and Fourth Paragraphs on Judgment, 2:17–29

B.Paul’s Fifth Paragraph on Judgment, 3:1–4

C.Paul’s Sixth Paragraph on Judgment, 3:5–8

III.The Sum of the Matter: No One is Righteous before God by One’s Deeds, 3:9–20

ROMANS 3:21–31: God’s Good News in Classic Compactness: Because of Christ’s Perfectly Sacrificial Work, a Perfectly Right Relationship with God Is Received by Simple Faith

I.The Central Truths in Paul’s Major Presentation of the Divine Good News, 3:21–25a

II.Additional Truths in Paul’s Proclamation of the Divine Good News, 3:25b–26

III.The New Testament’s Own Commentaries on the Meanings of Romans 3:21–26

A.Jesus’ Inaugurating Beatitudes in His Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:3–6

B.From the Center and End of Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:20–32

C.From Jesus’ Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Luke 18:9–14

IV.Two Historically Influential Translations of Romans 3:21–26

A.Martin Luther’s Translation of Romans 3:21–26

B.William Tyndale’s Translation of Romans 3:21–26

V.Two Influential Creedal Interpretations of Romans 3:21–26

A.The Heidelberg Catechism, 1563: Question 1

B.The Heidelberg Catechism, 1563: Question 60

VI.Modern Church and Biblical Commentaries on Romans 3:21–26 and Its Doctrines of Justification and Atonement

A.From the Modern Church: Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification: The Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church, 1999

B.Modern Biblical Commentaries on Roman 3:21–26

VII.Postscript: One More Time—Sola Fide, by Simple Faith Alone, 3:27–31

Appendix: Classic Honorings of Jesus’ Substitutionary Atonement in the Epistle to the Hebrews

ROMANS 4: Simple Faith in God’s Gracious Word: The Even Ancient Way to the Right Relation with God

I.Abraham’s Simple-Faith Righteousness, 4:1–5

II.David’s Free-Gift Forgiveness, 4:6–8

III.How Abraham’s Faith Determined the Rest of His Life, 4:9–25

ROMANS 5: Our New Gospel Privileges and the Old Roots of Our Relation with God

I.Our New Gospel Privileges, 5:1–11

II.Adam and Christ: The Roots of Our Wrong and of Our Right Relations with God, 5:12–21

ROMANS 6: Sanctification’s Presence

I.The Text: Dying and Rising with Christ—Living!—into a Brand New Way of Life, 6:1–14

An Introductory Excursus: The Questions of Baptism and of the Holy Spirit

II.The Exposition of Romans 6:1–14, Passage by Passage

An Intermediate Excursus: The Comparability of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

III.How to Live Out Our Sanctification Most Practically: By Offering Our Capacities to God, 6:15–23

ROMANS 7: Sanctification’s Presence and Absence

A Personal Preface to the Story of This Controversial Chapter

I.Sanctification’s Presence and Absence in Introductory Summary, 7:1–6

II.The Mysterious Absence of Sanctification in the Lives of Those under Law, 7:7–13

III.The Pit: The Human Being Left to One’s Own Resources, 7:14–25

Excursus: The Main Interpretations of Romans 7:14–25 through the Centuries

ROMANS 8: Sanctification’s Key: Believers in Jesus Christ Have God’s Holy Spirit within Their Lives

I.The Christians’ Companionship with Christ by the Presence of God’s Holy Spirit, 8:1–17

A.An Introduction to the Presence of God’s Holy Spirit within Us, 8:1–8

B.The Life-Giving Presence of the Holy Spirit within Us, 8:9–11

C.The Combative and Adoptive Presence of the Holy Spirit within Us, 8:12–17

II.The Christian Life in Its Expectation of All Creation’s Future Glory, 8:18–30

III.The Climax: God’s Insuperable Love for Us in Christ Jesus Our Lord, 8:31–39

Addendum: A Brief Overview of the Gift of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament

ROMANS 9:1–29: God’s Election of Israel

I.The Problem Introduced: The Great Privileges of Israel—and Yet, 9:1–5

II.The Problem Raised and Answered in an Initial Way: By God’s Sovereignty, 9:6–18

III.Further: God’s Wrath and God’s Mercy, 9:19–29

ROMANS 9:30–10:21: Israel’s Initial Unbelief in God’s Plan of Righteousness by Simple Faith

I.The Shape of Israel’s Unbelief, 9:30–10:4

II.God’s Faith-Plan of Salvation for All, Explained Even Further, 10:5–13

III.The Divine Chain of Salvation and the Challenge to Link into It, 10:14–21

ROMANS 11: The Mystery of Israel and the Church

I.Israel’s Rejection Is Not Final, 11:1–10

A.The Sovereign God Has Always Had, and Still Has, His Israel Remnant, 11:1–6

B.God’s Purpose Will Remain Unthwarted to Its Final Goal, 11:7–10

II.Israel and the Mainly Gentile Church Now, 11:11–24

III.The Mystery of God’s Final Plan: All Israel Will Be Saved, 11:25–32

IV.A Hymn of Praise to God, 11:33–36

Excursus: The Diverse Views of the Jewish People in Various New Testament Texts

ROMANS 12: The Practical Ethic of the Gospel, Part 1

I.The New Life in Christ with Its Quite Individual Service-Gifts of Grace, 12:1–8

II.The Character Traits of True Christians, 12:9–21

ROMANS 13: The Practical Ethic of the Gospel, Part 2

I.Paul’s Appeal for a Responsible Subjection to Governing Authorities, 13:1–7

A.Paul’s Romans 13 Word on Government in Its Particulars, 13:1–7

B.The Elder John’s Revelation 13 Word on Government, Revelation 13:1–18

C.Jesus’ Word on Government, Matthew 22:15–22

D.Other Words on Government

E.The Theological Declaration of Barmen (1934)

F.A More Recent Encounter with Government: Apartheid

G.Current Events: Black Lives Matter

II.Paul’s Appeal for the Warm Love of One Another, 13:8–10

III.Paul’s Appeal for a Fresh Sense of Urgency, 13:11–14

ROMANS 14:1–15:13: How Believers Can Deal with Certain Difficulties among Themselves

A General Preface

A Personal Preface

I.Try Not to Be Too Critical of Other Believers in Particulars, 14:1–4

II.Examples: The Particulars of Days and of Diets, 14:5–15:6

III.For Christ Himself Came for both Jews and Gentiles, 15:7–13

ROMANS 15:14–16:27: Paul’s Letter Conclusions

I.Paul’s Reasons for Writing So Boldly, 15:14–21

II.Paul’s Present Plan to Visit Rome, 15:22–33

III.Paul’s Personal Greetings to the Roman Christians, 16:1–16

IV.Paul’s Final Instructions, 16:17–24

V.Paul’s Final Doxology, 16:25–27

The Fifth Gospel

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Paul divided his Letter to the Romans—between his brief but important Introductory Remarks (1:1–17) and his several Concluding Remarks (chapters 15b–16)—into five major themes, each of fairly equal length, and so into about three to five pages. The later historical church, as we know, subsequently supplied Paul’s whole Letter (and the entire Bible) with chapter and verse numbers so that readers could locate specific passages. Here, then, is an outline of the whole of Paul’s Letter:

Introductory Remarks and the Theme of the Gospel: 1:1–17

I.Human Sin: 1:18–3:20

II.Divine Grace: 3:21–5:21

III.Christian Life: 6:1–8:39

IV.Divine Election: 9:1–11:36

V.Practical Christian Ethics: 12:1–15:13

Concluding Remarks and Personal Greetings: 15:14–16:27

ROMANS 1

Paul’s Introduction: Our Deep Need for the Gospel Good News

Chapter 1 has the following outline:

I.Paul Introduces Himself and the Good News to the Roman Christians, 1:1–7

II.Paul’s Special Prayer, Affirmation, Thanksgiving, and Petition for His Readers, 1:8–15

III.Paul’s Classic Compact Introduction to the Meaning of the Good News, 1:16–17

IV.The Sad News: Why the Good News of God’s Righteousness Is So Urgent, 1:18–32

Appendix to Romans 1: Messianic Foretellings

I. PAUL INTRODUCES HIMSELF AND THE GOOD NEWS TO THE ROMAN CHRISTIANS, 1:1–7

1:1–7The trademark of the Apostle Paul is his absolute Christocentricity—his Christ-centeredness—visible already in eight of the fifteen lines in his greeting above.

1:1aThe originally Saul of Tarsus, once a major persecutor of the church (a community he believed to be dangerously following a false Messiah), is now—miraculously (see the threefold description of his conversion in Luke’s Book of Acts, chapters 9, 22, and 26)—Paul the lowly Bondservant (literally, Slave, Paul’s surprisingly first self-description) of this once deeply maligned historical person—Jesus. History knows of few persons more self-given to another person than was Paul of Tarsus to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s mature-life dedication, of his all to Jesus’ all, deserves respect.

The important Greek term for Messiah is Christos, Christ (a translation of the Hebrew noun mashiah, anointed one); it appears no less than 531 times in the NT (and is present in every NT writing except the minuscule Third Letter of John). Well over half of the 531 uses of Christ—383 of them in all—appear in Paul’s letters alone. Of decisive influence in [this Jewish-messianic designation] are Nathan’s promise in 2 Sam 7:8–16 and [the] hope [presented there] of [a] renewal of the monarchy under a Davidic descendant. This [hoped-for renewal] is understood as an event in history, as Isa 8:23–9:6 shows (F. Hahn, Christos, EDNT 3:479, who provided the helpful statistical information above). Paul will specifically introduce Jesus’ Davidic heritage three lines from now. The Greek word Iēsous (Jesus) is derived from the Hebrew personal name Yehoshua (and from the later simplified Yeshua, from which English derives Joshua), a word meaning Yahweh helps (Ya-Shuah) or Yahweh is salvation (G. Schneider, Iēsous, EDNT 2:180–81). The name Jesus (Jeshuah/Joshua) is an entirely historical, human name (recall the Joshua of Hebrew Scripture), just as the words Messiah and its exact synonym, Christ, are titles (not family names), now honoring and representing the historical person who, in Christian conviction, is God’s final, decisive, messianic promise to the whole wide world—Jesus of Nazareth.

1:1bPaul is not only Jesus’ humble Bondservant—surely a worthy-enough calling in itself—he is also Jesus’ singularly appointed Apostle to the Gentile world. The Greek word apostolos carries the dignity of our modern word ambassador: one sent, with full authority, to represent a more important figure or entity. "Paul employs the concept apostolos in the service of an emphatically dignified and authoritative self-introduction in the opening lines of his letters (except Philippians and 1–2 Thessalonians)," J.-A. Bühner, EDNT 1:143. So, then, Paul’s two introductory self-designations—lowly Bondservant and regal Ambassador—nicely balance one another, just as the entirely human name Jesus and the divinely designated messianic title Christ nicely balance one another as well.

1:1cThe early church father Origen (185–253), in his commentary’s Preface to Romans, wrote that "Paul is said to have been ‘set apart for the Gospel’ … because God had seen the reasons and the merits by which Paul deserved to be set apart for that purpose" (in The Church’s Bible, 16). Origen’s whole Romans commentary is as frequently introducing human merit as Paul is introducing divine grace. (What, exactly, was Paul deservingly doing when he merited his conversion, according to the three descriptions of Paul’s conversion in Acts chapters 9, 22, and 26? He was persecuting Christ’s church.) Contrast Origen’s merit-filled reading with Martin Luther’s opening words in his world-changing Lectures on Romans (1515–16): The sum and substance of this letter is [this]: to pull down, to pluck up, and to destroy all wisdom and righteousness of the flesh (i.e., of whatever importance they may be in the sight of men and even in our own eyes), no matter how heartily and sincerely they may be practiced (in The Library of Christian Classics 15, translated and edited by W. Pauck, 3). For the Good News of the Very God. The early twentieth-century German commentator Theodor Zahn commented (in Michel, 36n. 3) on Paul’s final introductory word in verse 1: the Good News of the very God: God Himself … is the speaker through his messengers: the prophets, apostles, preachers, and [uniquely through] … Jesus. This Primal Source is important to appreciate throughout our reading of this letter.

1:2The promise appears especially in the Servant Songs, beginning in Isaiah 42, and in the great promises to the Son of David in 2 Samuel 7 and to the Son of Man in Daniel 7. (See the appendix at the end of this chapter for the major Messianic Foretellings in the Old Testament.)

1:3The Good News, or Gospel (Greek eu-angelion, from which English gōd-spel), or the Good Spelling!—"God’s Spell[ing] of the very God"—appeared in human flesh in God’s very own Son (v. 3), right in the middle of human history. We catch John Calvin’s characteristic Christ-centeredness in his comment on Paul’s referring to God’s Son: Paul teaches us that the whole Gospel is contained in Christ. To move even a step from Christ means to withdraw oneself from the Gospel. Since Christ is the living and express image of the Father, it need not surprise us that He alone is set in front of us as the One who is both the object and centre of our whole faith.… To search for wisdom apart from Christ means not simply foolhardiness, but utter insanity (Romans, 1556, 3, 15).

1:4The Servant-Crucified Jesus was verifiably, credibly, indeed divinely confirmed: as God’s very own Son, powerfully, by the Spirit of Holiness, most specifically, and classically, by the Spirit’s empowering Jesus’ wonderfully probative "resurrection from the dead no less—Jesus Christ our Lord." The church stands or falls by its confidence in or denial of Jesus’ historical Resurrection from death. By his Resurrection, Jesus was historically and, so, dramatically validated by the Holy Spirit to be, in fact, who he claimed to be in mission: "Jesus Christ, our Lord." The Reformed theologian Karl Barth, Calvin’s loyal twentieth-century heir, commented on Paul’s blazing focus on Jesus in Paul’s letters: The name Jesus [historically] … marks the point where the unknown world cuts [into] the known world.… The years 1–30 are the era of [divine] disclosure (Romans, 1928, 6, 29).

1:5The singular (!) obedience for receiving the Gospel (there are not twenty others) sought singularly by Paul throughout this letter—which we might respectfully call the Fifth Gospel (though written even earlier than the majestic Fourfold)—is a sincerely confessed faith in Jesus and in what the Great God, in his Son Jesus, has done, is doing, and will do for and by his believing followers throughout the world. All other obediences will flow from this majestically single one.

1:6Paul reminds the Roman Christians that they too, like all the other Jesus-believers in the Mediterranean world, are Jesus Christ’s very specially called ones, that is, his "called-out ones," to be God’s very people in Rome. What a privilege!

1:7aDouglas Moo, 55 (with his emphasis), explains Paul’s meaning helpfully: "Paul uses ‘saints’ at least 38 times to designate Christians …, the focus being not on [their] behavior but on [their] status: Christians are those who have been [privileged to be] sanctified [we may say ‘saint-ified’!] ‘in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God’ (1 Cor 6:11)." Arland Hultgren, 52 (emphases added), marshaled Augustine’s comparable view: "‘One should not think that ‘called … saints’ indicates that they were called because they were holy. Rather, they were made holy because they were called.’" See Augustine’s full comment on our passage, with this grace emphasis, in The Church’s Bible, 20. (Contrast above, Origen’s meriting reasons for Paul’s calling.) Every true Christian has received, by Christ, the divinely given surname—in his or her having been called by Christ—Saint Someone.

1:7bTo conclude his honor-packed preface, Paul prays that God will communicate to his believing readers, throughout this letter, God’s grace, with grace’s uniquely accompanying peace—a benediction from this letter that every believing reader has experienced. Augustine (ACCS 6:14) explained the meanings of the two very important words grace and peace throughout Paul’s letters like this: "The forgiveness of sins and the gift of [Christian Family] may be what he means by ‘grace,’ and the defeat of the invisible enemies … by ‘peace.’" Both of the great nineteenth-century interpreters—Frederick Godet in Switzerland and J. B. Lightfoot in England—defined these two very important and frequently complementary words like this: "Grace, [Greek] charis, denotes the love of God manifested in the form of pardon toward sinful man; peace, [Greek] eirēnē, [denotes] the feeling of profound calm or inward quiet which is communicated to the heart by the possession of reconciliation (Godet, 85); and Charis [grace] is the