This is the fourth installment in a series exploring St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans with the help of St. Thomas Aquinas.
After presenting Christ’s divine origin, true humanity, and power manifested in the Resurrection, St. Paul turns to the generosity of the risen Lord:
“Through whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith, in all nations, for his name: among whom are you also the called of Jesus Christ: to all who are at Rome, the beloved of God, called to be saints. Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” — Romans 1:5–7, Douay-Rheims
St. Thomas Aquinas describes this passage as a revelation of Christ’s liberality—that is, his abundant generosity. Christ does not retain his gifts for himself. He restores sinners through grace, entrusts his authority to the apostles, summons the nations to faith, and calls ordinary men and women to become saints.
Paul’s greeting is therefore much more than a polite introduction. It contains, in miniature, the entire movement of Christian salvation:
We are loved by God.
We are called by Christ.
We are restored through grace.
We are summoned to the obedience of faith.
We are sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
We are led toward perfect peace.
The Christian life begins in divine generosity and ends in communion with God.
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1. Christ’s generosity is revealed in his gifts
In the preceding verses, Paul commended Christ according to his origin and power. Christ is the eternal Son, truly descended from David according to his humanity, and manifested in divine power through the Resurrection.
Paul now commends Christ according to what he gives.
Aquinas identifies two gifts in particular:
Grace, which is given to all believers for their restoration.
Apostleship, which is given to certain men for the service and salvation of others.
These gifts are different, but they come from the same Lord. Grace makes a person holy; apostleship gives a person a mission within the Church.
The order is important. Before Paul is an apostle, he must first be a recipient of grace. His mission arises from mercy.
Paul does not preach because he saved himself. He preaches because Christ encountered, forgave, and transformed him.
Every Christian vocation follows this basic pattern: first we receive, and then we are sent. Before we can bear Christ to others, we must allow Christ to act within us.
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2. Grace restores what sin has wounded
Paul says that through Christ “we have received grace.”
Grace is not merely God overlooking our sins or treating us as righteous while leaving us unchanged. Grace is God’s free and supernatural gift, healing the sinner and drawing him into communion with divine life.
Aquinas describes grace here as that by which we are restored.
This language of restoration presupposes both the goodness of creation and the tragedy of sin. Human nature is not evil in itself. God created it good. But sin wounds our relationship with God, disorders our desires, darkens the intellect, weakens the will, and inclines us toward further sin.
We require more than information. We need healing.
Christ does not come merely to remind us how we ought to live. He comes to restore within us a life that we cannot produce by our natural powers alone.
This restoration is given through the eternal Word. Aquinas observes that, just as all things were originally created through the Word, it is fitting that creation should also be restored through him. He compares this to an artisan repairing a house by the same art through which he first built it.
The Word through whom creation came into being is the Word through whom fallen creation is reconciled to God.
The work of redemption is therefore not disconnected from creation. The Father does not abandon his original work. Through his Son, he heals and elevates it.
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3. Christ is the source of grace
Grace comes from God through Jesus Christ.
This does not mean that Christ is merely a passive channel standing between God and humanity. As the eternal Son, Christ acts with the Father and the Holy Spirit as the divine source of grace. According to his humanity, however, he becomes the unique mediator through whom divine life reaches us.
The humanity of Christ is the sacred instrument of our salvation. Through his human words, actions, suffering, death, and Resurrection, the eternal Son accomplishes our reconciliation with God.
This is why the Christian life cannot be separated from Christ.
Grace is not an impersonal spiritual energy. It is given through a personal union with Jesus. Through him, we receive forgiveness, adoption, sanctification, and access to the Father.
Christ does not merely give us something. In grace, he draws us into communion with himself.
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4. The gift of apostleship
Alongside grace, Paul says that “we have received” apostleship.
The word apostle means one who is sent. An apostle does not act principally on his own initiative. He receives a mission and authority from the one who sends him.
The apostles were sent by Christ as Christ himself had been sent by the Father. They did not invent their message, appoint themselves, or preach in their own names. They bore the authority and teaching of Jesus Christ.
Aquinas calls apostleship the foremost office in the early Church and explains that Christ is himself called the Apostle—the one sent from the Father. The Twelve and Paul receive their apostleship from him as the principal one sent [Commentary on Romans (St. Thomas Aquinas) §1:61–62].
This establishes a fundamental principle of Catholic faith: the Church’s ministry is apostolic.
The Church does not create the Gospel. She receives it.
Her ministers are not authorized to replace Christ’s revelation with their own preferred message. They are sent to guard, proclaim, explain, and hand on what comes from him.
The authority of an apostle is therefore real, but never self-created. It is a participation in Christ’s authority.
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5. Office must be preceded by grace
Paul’s reference to grace before apostleship is spiritually significant.
Apostleship is itself a gift, not a reward Paul earned. He remembers that he once persecuted the Church and therefore considers himself unworthy to be called an apostle. Whatever fruit his ministry bears must ultimately be attributed to the grace of God.
Aquinas also teaches that an ecclesial office cannot be exercised worthily unless sanctifying grace precedes it [Commentary on Romans (St. Thomas Aquinas) §1:61–62].
This does not mean that the validity of every sacramental act depends upon the personal holiness of the minister. Christ remains faithful even when his ministers are weak or sinful. Nevertheless, for someone to exercise a sacred office fruitfully and worthily, his outward ministry should flow from an interior friendship with God.
A title cannot substitute for holiness.
Knowledge, eloquence, and authority may enable someone to perform many external works. But without love for God, ministry can become a search for status, influence, control, or praise.
Paul’s order corrects this temptation:
Grace first, then mission.
Before the apostle speaks for Christ, he must belong to Christ. Before he labors for the conversion of others, he must continually surrender his own heart to conversion.
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6. The purpose of apostleship: obedience to faith
Paul next explains the purpose of his mission: it is “for obedience to the faith.”
Faith is not merely intellectual agreement with a collection of religious statements. It certainly includes the assent of the intellect to what God has revealed, but it also involves the willing submission of the whole person to God.
The expression obedience of faith holds these dimensions together.
Faith is obedient because we submit to the truth and authority of God. It is faith because this submission concerns truths revealed by God, including mysteries that exceed the natural reach of human reason.
Aquinas notes that faith involves the will. Because the mysteries of faith surpass what unaided reason can demonstrate, a person does not believe without voluntarily consenting to God’s revelation [Commentary on Romans (St. Thomas Aquinas) §1:61–62].
This does not mean that faith is irrational or that we believe without reasons. God gives credible signs of revelation, and reason can recognize that faith is not contrary to truth. But reason cannot comprehend every divine mystery or compel faith as if revelation were simply the conclusion of a mathematical proof.
Faith requires trust.
God reveals, grace moves the heart, the intellect recognizes the truthfulness of the One speaking, and the will freely consents.
The obedience of faith is therefore neither blind submission nor self-generated conviction. It is the free and grace-assisted response of the human person to the God who reveals himself.
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7. Faith seeks the obedience of the whole person
Modern culture often treats faith as a private opinion—something that may comfort a person inwardly but should make few demands upon his public conduct or moral decisions.
Paul’s phrase does not permit such a reduction.
If faith is obedience to God, then it must shape the whole of life. What we believe about God, creation, the human person, sin, redemption, and eternal life necessarily influences the way we act.
This does not mean that Christian obedience is servile or unthinking. God does not ask us to abandon our reason. He asks us to allow reason itself to be healed, expanded, and elevated by the truth he reveals.
Nor does obedience destroy freedom. Sin enslaves because it disorders us and turns us away from our true good. Obedience to God liberates because it orders us toward the good for which we were created.
Faith begins with hearing, but it seeks fulfillment in a life surrendered to God.
The apostolic mission is therefore not complete when people merely hear the name of Jesus. Its purpose is that they should come to trust him, receive his grace, enter his Church, and live according to his truth.
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8. The Gospel is for all nations
Paul describes the extent of his apostleship: it reaches “all nations.”
The Gospel fulfills the promises made through Israel, but it is not confined to one ethnic or political people. Christ sends his apostles to make disciples of every nation.
Paul received a particular mission to the Gentiles. This did not mean that he rejected his fellow Jews. He continued to proclaim Christ to them and deeply desired their salvation. His special vocation, however, was to carry the name of Jesus beyond the familiar borders of Israel.
The universality of the Gospel follows from the universality of the human need for salvation.
Every nation has its own history, customs, language, achievements, and wounds. But all human beings share the same created dignity, the same fundamental wound of sin, and the same need for reconciliation with God.
Christ does not belong to one race as a private possession. His human nature comes from Israel and the house of David, but his divine Person is the eternal Son through whom all things were made.
Therefore, no nation is outside the scope of his commission.
Paul’s mission to all nations reveals the catholicity of the Church. The word catholic indicates universality. The Church is sent to every people, not to erase legitimate cultural differences, but to gather all things into unity in Christ.
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9. “For his name”
Paul says that his mission is exercised “for his name.”
Aquinas gives this expression two complementary meanings.
First, the apostles act in Christ’s name—that is, in his place and with the authority he entrusted to them. As Christ came in the Father’s name, so the apostles were sent in the name of Christ.
Second, the apostles labor for the glory of Christ’s name rather than for their own earthly advantage. Paul was chosen to carry Christ’s name before nations and kings. He did not receive the Gospel as an opportunity to establish his personal celebrity [Commentary on Romans (St. Thomas Aquinas) §1:64–66].
These two meanings belong together.
The apostle exercises Christ’s authority, and therefore he must seek Christ’s glory.
If a minister uses Christ’s name principally to promote himself, he contradicts the very mission he claims to serve. The more sacred the authority entrusted to someone, the more urgently he must disappear behind the Lord who sent him.
This principle applies beyond ordained ministry. Every Christian should act in the name of Jesus and for the honor of Jesus.
Our work, family life, suffering, prayer, service, and speech can all become offerings for his name. The Christian vocation is not to make ourselves the center of attention, but to become transparent to Christ.
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10. Even Rome stands under the Gospel
Paul then addresses the Roman Christians directly: they are among the nations entrusted to his apostolic mission.
This is a striking claim. Rome was the center of imperial power. Its political and military authority reached across the known world. Yet Paul, outwardly poor and politically powerless, regards even Rome as standing under the commission he received from Christ.
The Gospel does not tremble before earthly greatness.
Kings, emperors, cities, and civilizations all remain subject to the truth of God. Political authority has a real dignity and purpose, but it cannot make itself the measure of good and evil. It too stands beneath the judgment and mercy of Christ.
Paul does not approach Rome armed with military force. He bears the word of the crucified and risen Lord.
The apparent weakness of apostolic preaching will prove stronger than imperial splendor. Rome will pass through centuries of upheaval, but the name preached by Peter and Paul will continue to be proclaimed.
The Gospel conquers not by killing its enemies but by converting hearts.
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11. Called to belong to Jesus Christ
Paul describes the Roman believers as “the called of Jesus Christ.”
This can mean that they have been called by Christ, called to belong to Christ, and called to bear the name of Christ as Christians [Commentary on Romans (St. Thomas Aquinas) §1:64–66].
Each meaning reveals something important.
Christ calls us personally. Christianity begins not with our search for an absent God but with God’s initiative toward us.
Christ calls us to belong to him. Faith is more than admiration for Jesus from a distance. It means surrendering ourselves to him and becoming members of his Body.
Christ also gives us his name. The title Christian means that our identity is derived from Christ.
To be a Christian is therefore not merely to hold certain opinions. It is to be claimed, named, and transformed by Jesus Christ.
Our deepest identity is not found in nationality, profession, political allegiance, accomplishments, or failures. All these may have real importance, but none of them reaches the depth of the name given in Baptism.
The Christian belongs to Christ.
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12. Beloved by God
Paul addresses the Christians in Rome as “the beloved of God.”
Aquinas identifies God’s love as the primary source of grace. We love God because he first loved us.
Human love often responds to goodness already present in another person. We see someone’s beauty, virtue, kindness, or excellence, and we are drawn toward that good.
God’s love is different in its manner of causality. He does not merely discover goodness existing independently of him. As Creator and giver of grace, God causes the goodness he loves in creatures.
To love is to will the good of another. God’s will is effective: his love bestows being, life, and grace. Aquinas therefore explains that divine love is not called forth by the creature’s goodness in the way human love commonly is; rather, God’s love causes the goodness of the creature [Commentary on Romans (St. Thomas Aquinas) §1:67].
This truth protects us both from pride and despair.
It protects us from pride because our spiritual goodness is not self-created. Whatever is good in us comes first from God’s generosity.
It protects us from despair because God does not wait until we have perfected ourselves before he begins to love and call us. His love is precisely what heals and transforms us.
We do not become lovable enough to force God to show mercy. His mercy comes first and makes us capable of loving him in return.
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13. The outward and inward call
Paul next describes the believers as “called.”
Aquinas distinguishes two forms of calling.
The first is outward. A person hears the Gospel through preaching, Scripture, Christian witness, or the teaching of the Church. Christ’s call reaches the ears through visible and audible means.
The second is inward. God moves the heart through grace, illuminating the intellect and inclining the will toward faith.
The outward call can be heard without being obeyed. A person may encounter the Gospel and still resist it. The inward movement of grace enables a person to receive the word not merely as information but as a summons from God.
These two forms of calling normally work together. Christ speaks through his Church outwardly while the Holy Spirit works inwardly.
This does not violate freedom. Grace does not treat the human person as an inert object. It awakens, heals, and elevates freedom so that the person can answer God.
The Christian life begins because God speaks first. Our response is real and necessary, but it is already surrounded and supported by grace.
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14. Called to be saints
Paul does not address the Roman Christians merely as believers. He says that they are “called to be saints.”
Holiness is not reserved for a spiritual elite.
The saints canonized by the Church provide heroic and trustworthy examples of Christian life, but every baptized person is called to holiness. Sainthood is not an optional addition for unusually enthusiastic Christians. It is the proper fulfillment of the grace given to every member of Christ.
Aquinas connects this calling with justification and sanctification. Christians are washed and sanctified through grace and the sacramental life [Commentary on Romans (St. Thomas Aquinas) §1:70–72].
To be holy means to belong to God and to be transformed by his grace.
This transformation begins as gift before becoming a task. God consecrates us to himself, especially through Baptism. Yet the gift establishes a vocation: we must become in our conduct what grace has made us in principle.
The Christian life is therefore a continuing movement of conversion. Grace heals us, but we must cooperate with grace. We must turn away from sin, grow in charity, receive the sacraments, persevere in prayer, perform works of mercy, and allow Christ to conform us to himself.
We are not called merely to respect the saints.
We are called to join them.
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15. Grace and peace: the whole Christian life
Paul concludes his greeting with two blessings: grace and peace.
These words summarize the entire Christian journey.
Aquinas calls grace the first among God’s supernatural gifts because grace makes the sinner holy. Peace is the final gift, brought to perfection in eternal happiness.
Grace is the beginning; peace is the completion.
Between them lies the whole work of Christian transformation:
forgiveness of sins;
justification;
adoption as children of God;
growth in virtue;
sacramental life;
perseverance in trial;
union with God through charity;
and final entrance into glory.
Aquinas teaches that perfect peace is reached when the will rests in the fullness of all good and is free from every evil. Because grace is the beginning and peace the consummation, these two blessings implicitly contain all the gifts that lie between them [Commentary on Romans (St. Thomas Aquinas) §1:70–72].
Biblical peace is therefore more than the absence of conflict or the experience of calm emotions. Perfect peace is the right ordering and final fulfillment of the person in God.
We often seek peace without grace. We want interior rest while refusing conversion. But lasting peace cannot be built upon disorder. Peace is the fruit of being reconciled with God and brought into harmony with the truth.
Grace heals the disorder. Peace is the rest that follows.
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16. Peace is both present and future
Christ gives real peace even now, but its perfection remains future.
Through grace, we can be reconciled to God, receive forgiveness, and possess the interior peace that comes from living in friendship with him. Yet suffering, temptation, injustice, and conflict remain part of earthly life.
Christian peace does not mean that every external difficulty disappears. The martyrs possessed peace even while being persecuted. The saints often retained peace amid illness, rejection, spiritual trials, and uncertainty.
Their peace rested not upon favorable circumstances but upon communion with God.
Nevertheless, present peace is still incomplete. Perfect peace will come only in eternal life, when every evil has been overcome and the human will rests wholly in the possession of the supreme Good.
Grace is thus the seed of glory, and the peace given now is the beginning of the peace that will be completed in heaven.
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17. From the Father and the Son
Paul says that grace and peace come “from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Aquinas explains that every good gift comes from God. Grace and peace also come through Jesus Christ, who gives his own peace to his disciples [Commentary on Romans (St. Thomas Aquinas) §1:70–72].
Paul’s language places the Father and the Son together as the divine source of salvation. Jesus is not merely a creature asking God to bless us. Grace and peace come from the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
At the same time, the title “our Father” reminds us that our sonship differs from Christ’s. Christ is the Son by nature; we are children of God by adoption. His Father becomes our Father because the natural Son shares his life with us.
We approach the Father through the Son.
The Incarnation, death, and Resurrection of Jesus open the way for us to receive the grace of adoption. In Christ and through the Holy Spirit, we are brought into a relationship with God that human nature alone could never attain.
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18. Where is the Holy Spirit?
Paul explicitly mentions the Father and the Son, but not the Holy Spirit. Does this mean that the Spirit is absent from the greeting?
Aquinas answers that the Holy Spirit is understood in the gifts of grace and peace. The Spirit is the divine gift through whom grace is poured into our hearts and through whom we are united to God.
The Spirit is also understood whenever the Father and Son are named together, because the Holy Spirit is the personal bond of love proceeding from the Father and the Son [Commentary On the First Epistle to the Corinthians (St. Thomas Aquinas) §§9–10].
The whole Trinity is therefore active in our salvation:
The Father is the source who calls us into adoption.
The Son accomplishes our reconciliation through his incarnate life, death, and Resurrection.
The Holy Spirit dwells within us, sanctifies us, and brings forth the peace of divine charity.
Grace and peace are Trinitarian gifts. They come from the one God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and draw us into the life of the Trinity.
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The generosity of Christ
Romans 1:5–7 reveals a Christ who gives abundantly.
Through him, sinners receive grace. Through him, apostles receive their mission. Through his messengers, the nations are summoned to the obedience of faith. Through his call, believers come to belong to him. Through his Spirit, they are sanctified. Through communion with the Father and the Son, they are led toward peace.
Nothing here begins with human achievement.
Paul did not create his apostleship. The Romans did not first earn God’s love. The saints do not sanctify themselves by natural strength. The Church does not invent the Gospel she proclaims.
Everything begins with the initiative of God.
Yet grace does not leave us passive. The gift creates a vocation. Those who receive grace are called to faith; those who believe are called to obedience; those who are sanctified are called to become saints; and those who have received Christ are called to bear his name before the world.
The Christian life begins with grace and moves toward peace.
Between grace and peace lies our entire pilgrimage: receiving, believing, obeying, serving, suffering, loving, and being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
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Principal source
St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, chapter 1, lecture 4, §§60–73.
Disclaimer
This article was written with the assistance of Catholic AI and is based principally on St. Thomas Aquinas’s Commentary on the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans.