Atto of Vercelli and the Grace of the Incarnation in the Flesh

 Atto of Vercelli (885-961 AD)

Exposition of the Epistles of St. Paul: Epistle to the Romans – Sections 0131B-0133B (link)

And so the Apostle makes mention of David. And it should be noted that the Apostle, well-instructed in both the divinity and humanity of the Savior, says that He was made according to the flesh from the seed of David, so as to make room for the divinity. For it was not the divinity that was made, but the humanity. The Word of God—that is, the only-begotten Son—was not made, but is the Maker of all. For inasmuch as the Lord Jesus Christ is God, all things were made through Him; as John says: “All things were made through Him” (John 1:3). For unless He were God, by no means would all things be made through Him; rather, He would be numbered among those things that were made. He, therefore, who was and was made—what was He, and what did He become? He was the Word; He became flesh. He was the Son of God; He became the Son of Man.

It follows: Who was predestined to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of sanctification. It should be noted that He whom he previously said was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, he now says was predestined to be the Son of God in power, to show that the one who was to be the son of David according to the flesh is the same and not another as the Son of God in power. He was predestined according to the Spirit of sanctification. He says “according to the Spirit of sanctification” because He was conceived and born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin. This is that unique, indescribable, and ineffably accomplished assumption by which the Son of God joined true man to Himself in the unity of person, so that He might be the same—God and man: God on account of the one assuming, and man on account of the one assumed; so that God would not be a quaternity, but a Trinity.

But why does the Apostle call Him “predestined,” when all the faithful are predestined? For if we are predestined, and He is predestined, then He is not the proper but the adoptive Son. May it never be! Nevertheless, it must be understood that by the same grace by which each of us becomes a Christian from the beginning of faith, He also became Christ from the beginning of His incarnation. And by the same Spirit in which anyone here is reborn, by that Spirit He was born of the Virgin. For by that Spirit through whom remission of sins happens here, by that same Spirit it was accomplished that He had absolutely no sin at all.

All these things the Lord both foreknew and predestined to do. But what sort of merit preceded Him that He should come to such exaltation? None at all, of course—no preceding merits, but solely by the grace of God, the man was assumed into the unity of the person of the Word of God; from which He is rightly said to have been predestined. Therefore, He predestined Him, and He predestined us; because neither in Him, as our Head, nor in us, as His members, did any merits precede, but solely the works of God. And note how fittingly the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of sanctification, because all sanctification consists in Him, proceeds from Him, and He bestows sanctification upon all.

It continues: From the resurrection of the dead of Jesus Christ our Lord. Because the Apostle had previously said that the Lord Jesus was predestined in power according to the Spirit of sanctification, he adds from the resurrection of the dead to show that He was also predestined from the resurrection. When he says “of the dead,” we must not understand those whom the Lord will condemn in judgment, but those to whom He will minister after judgment. By this statement, he intended to show that the Lord Jesus preceded all others in the resurrection of the dead. Hence, He is called the Firstborn of the dead (Revelation 1:5), and thereafter, the Firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29), because He alone rose from the dead by His own power.

Therefore, the Apostle beautifully does not say “Jesus Christ,” but “of Jesus Christ,” as if he were saying “of His own.” For if he were asked from whose resurrection He was said to be predestined, he would surely answer, “from His own.” And this is what he says: “of Jesus Christ.” Another ordering of the words is possible: the phrase “from the resurrection of the dead” may not refer to “Son of God in power” but rather to the prior phrase “who was predestined,” and the intervening words “Son of God in power according to the Spirit of sanctification” are parenthetical. With those words set aside, the order of the sentence would be: Who was predestined from the resurrection of the dead of Jesus Christ our Lord to be the Son of God in power. And the meaning would be: He was predestined to be the son of David in the weakness of flesh; He was predestined to be the Son of God in power—that the one who took on flesh be referred to David, because of which He died, and the one who rose again be referred to the Son of God, because He rose by the power of the divinity.

Then, to show that the Apostle did not come by his own authority but was sent by Christ, he adds: Through whom we received grace and apostleship. Note that he does not say “grace” only, lest he seem ungrateful for the grace he received by not preaching it. So he adds: and apostleship. For grace he received in common with all; apostleship, however, in a certain special way, as though he alone had deserved it. Grace is that by which sins are forgiven. And to show why he received these, he immediately adds: For obedience to the faith—that is, so that all might obey the faith. But for what reason? For the sake of His name, he says, as if to say: I received grace and apostleship so that all may obey the faith and believe in Him; and whoever is predestined and to be saved, may be marked with the sign of His name.

And lest it seem that this grace was given only to the Jews, he adds: Among all nations; and lest the Romans appear to be excluded, he further adds: Among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ—which is to say clearly: He who is the Savior of all nations, you also are His called, though found not among the Jews but among the Gentiles. Therefore, since he had said who was writing—“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus”—to show to whom he was writing, he adds: To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, and so forth. By these words, he commends divine mercy and cancels human merit.