Generally speaking there are two main types of sin—discord with God and discord with one's neighbor. Paul mentions them both, putting discord with God first because it is the greater sin, and calling it "ungodliness." He then mentions the second kind of discord, the one with one's neighbor, calling it "wickedness." He even states that our entire race has…

Paul sets "Spirit" against "letter," "newness" against "oldness," and by these names shows us how different the two things are.

Everyone in the following of Adam has died, because they have all inherited their nature from him. But some have died because they themselves have sinned, while others have died only because of Adam's condemnation—for example, children.

This is to be read as a censorious remark, for the people were not judging the truth from works but from superficial appearances only.

Christ fulfilled the law's purpose by granting the righteousness which comes by faith in him to all those who accepted him.

Paul calls the believers "saints" because they have been called to be holy.

Once again Paul takes up his earlier theme and by adding the word brother shows how inappropriate this kind of judging is.

"Law" and "commandment" are synonymous in this case. The commandment is called "holy" because it takes us away from sin and sets us apart from evil; "just" because with its righteousness it honors those who obey it and punishes those who transgress it; "good" because it leads us to the good, and this because of the goodness given by God. The law is not…

Those who objected to the Christian gospel ridiculed it, mocking it because of its absurdity. For there is nothing more ridiculous than the word of someone who preaches that the Son of God was born and brought up by Jews, who rejects neither the cross nor death, who says moreover not only that Christ rose from the dead but that he ascended to heaven as…

By faith, Paul does not mean the common and universal faith of believers but the spiritual gift of faith. The two things have the same name, because when the Holy Spirit comes upon us it is our human faith which expands to make room for the divine gift.

The cloud was a figure standing for the grace of the Spirit. For just as the cloud covered the Israelites and protected them from the Egyptians, so the Spirit's grace shields us from the wiles of the devil. Likewise, just as the crossing of the sea protected them from their enemies and gave them real freedom, so baptism protects us from our enemies. That…

Paul calls the Lord Christ the "first fruits," because he was one of them according to the flesh, and through his resurrection he became the first to claim the inheritance.