The Soteriology of Theodoret of Cyrus in the Commentary on St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans

In his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Theodoret offers a summary of Paul of Tarsus’s soteriology. He asserts that the gospel revealed by God to the Gentiles and Jews is the good news of man’s reconciliation with God, the defeat of Satan, the forgiveness of human sins, the annihilation of death, the resurrection of the dead, eternal life and the kingdom of heaven. This gospel is actualised through the eternal God-the Word who became man. The acceptance of this doctrine is an act of divine grace, and those who have embraced it have been granted salvation. The good choices made by humans, when pursued along the path of piety and virtue, serve to confirm their conversion to God. The persistent moral efforts made by humans bring them closer to God. However, these efforts have no salvific value, because salvation has been accomplished only in Christ and is only accessed through faith on the path of grace.