6a-Salvation
<http://www.cin.org/users/jgallegos/contents.htm> The Bible states in1 Timothy 3:15, "The church is the pillar and foundation of truth."
Cardinal Henery Neuman was a convert from Calvinism to the Anglican Church and finally to the Catholic Church. He stated “to be deep in the study of the History of the church is to cease to be Protestant”. Its Collary is also true, “to be deep in the study of the History of the church is to become Catholic”.
Rules for interpreting Scripture: Established by Pope Leo XIII in Providentissimus Deus (1893) seconded and confirmed by Pope Benedict XV in Spiritus Paraclitus (1920) and by Pope Pius XII in Divino Afflante Spiritu (1943) Pope Pius XII declared in Divino... that Leo’s encyclical Providentisisimus for interpreting the bible to "the supreme guide in Biblical studies"
Four rules for interpreting the Bible for the Catholic Church 1. Always pay attention to the Magisterium the authority of the Church 2. Beguided by what the early fathershad to say about a particular passage.
3. Always to be guided by what the Bible has to say as a whole (not key phrases here and there for defining ones theology and ignoring passages which do not fit one’s theology, see opening quote) 4. Always take the Bible Literally unless it is reasonably unattenable
I will maintain that a anyone who follows the last three rules will well over 90% of the time arrive at the same truths as the Catholic Church!! The true church must be that church which follows the teachings of those immediate successors of the Apostles. These are the Apostolic fathers who learned the faith at the foot of the Apostles. The Catholic church teaches the same things as those taught by the Apostolic fathers. It has not veered to the left or ritght but teaches the same today. If a Church comes a long 1,500 years later and teaches something different how can they have the truth. They claim truth based on their own authority yet teach things that are in contradiction to the Apostolic fathers. While they maintain a portion of the same teachings as the Apostolic teachings professing Christ as redeemer and savior and hence have portion of the Catholic heritage never the less they only have a portion of the loaf of bread. For since the Catholic churche teaches the same as the Apostolic Fathers only they have the complete loaf of bread.
__________________________________________________________________________________________ Salvation. This section will examine the various aspects of Salvation in the eyes of the faith of the early Church Fathers. Topics will include: the nature of justification(infused or forensic), the relationship of faith and works, the sacraments as the ordinary means of God’s grace, and salvation is by God’s grace alone.
Faith and Works Documents illustrating the importance of faith and works in salvation. The Fathers affirmed that works play a role in our salvation.
Infused Righteousness Documents illustrating that in justification man is given an infused righteousness in contrast to an alien/forensic righteousness. The Fathers affirmed that in justification man is truly righteous.
Once saved NOT always saved!: The Fathers affirmed that a baptized Christian(ie. regenerate person) can lose his salvation by committing a mortal sin. The road back to salvation is through the grace of repentance.
Salutary Works require Grace The Fathers affirmed that every salutary work is accomplished by God’s grace alone. The Fathers were one on the absolute necessity of divine grace for all salutary Acts 6:1-15b-Faith&Works, infused Righteousness <http://www.cin.org/users/jgallegos/contents.htm>
Faith and Works
"Seeing, therefore, that we are the portion of the Holy One, let us do all those things which pertain to holiness, avoiding all evil-speaking, all abominable and impure embraces, together with all drunkenness, seeking after change, all abominable lusts, detestable adultery, and execrable pride. ’For God,’ saith [the Scripture], ’resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.’ Let us cleave, then, to those to whom grace has been given by God. Let us clothe ourselves with concord and humility, ever exercising self-control, standing far off from all whispering and evil-speaking, being justified by our works, and not our words." Clement of Rome,Epistle to the Corinthians,30(A.D. 98),in ANF,I:13
"For what reason was our father Abraham blessed? was it not because he wrought righteousness and truth throughfaith?" Clement of Rome,Epistle to the Corinthians,31(A.D. 98),in ANF,I:13
" All these, therefore, were highly honoured, and made great, not for their own sake, or for their own works, or for the righteousness which they wrought, but through theoperation of His will. And we, too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Clement of Rome,Epistle to the Corinthians,32(A.D. 98),in ANF,I:13
"Now I beseech thee, by the grace with which thou art clothed, to add [speed] to thy course, and that thou ever pray for all men that they may be saved, and that thou demand things which are befitting, with all assiduity both of the flesh and spirit. Be studious of unity, than which nothing is more precious. Bear with all men, even as our Lord beareth with thee. Show patience with all men in love, as [indeed] thou doest. Be stedfast in prayer. Ask for more understanding than that which thou [already] hast. Be watchful, as possessing a spirit which sleepeth not. Speak with every man according to the will of God. Bear the infirmities of all men as a perfect athlete; for where the labour is great, the gain is also great."Ignatius of Antioch,To Polycarp,1(A.D. 110),in ANF,I:99
" Look ye to the bishop, that God also may look upon you. I will be instead of the souls of those who are subject to the bishop, and the presbyters, and the deacons; with them may I have a portion in the presence of God! Labour together with one another, act as athletes together, run together, suffer together, sleep together, rise together. As stewards of God, and of His household, and His servants, please Him and serve Him, that ye may receive from Him the wages [promised]. Let none of you be rebellious.Let yourbaptism be to you as armour, and faith as a spear, and love as a helmet, and patience as a panoply. Let your treasures be your good works, that ye may receive the gift of God, as is just. Let your spirit be long-suffering towards each other with meekness, even as God [is] toward you. As for me, I rejoice in you at all times."
Ignatius of Antioch,To Polycarp,6(A.D. 110),in ANF,I:100
"For he who keepeth these shall be glorified in the kingdom of God; but he who chooseth other things shall bedestroyed with his works." Epistle of Barnabas,2(A.D. 132),in ANF,I:149
"But He who raised Him up from the dead will raise up us also,if we do His will, and walk in His commandments, and love what He loved, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, evil speaking, falsewitness; ’not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing,’ or blow for blow, or cursing for cursing, but being mindful of what the Lord said in His teaching: ’Judge not, that ye be not judged; forgive, and it shall be forgiven unto you; be merciful, that ye may obtain mercy; with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again; and once more, "Blessed are the poor, and those that are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God.’ "
Polycarp,To the Phillipians,2(A.D. 135),in ANF,I:33 "They only who fear the Lord and keep His commandments have life with God; but as to those who keep not His commandments, there is no life in them."Shepherd of Hermas,2 Comm 7(A.D. 155),in ANF,II:25
"But those who do not keep his commandments, flee from his life, and despise him. But he has his own honour with the Lord. All, therefore, who shall despise him, and not follow his commands, deliver themselves to death, and every one of them will be guilty of his own blood. But I enjoinyou, that you obey his commands, and you will have a cure for your former sins." Shepherd of Hermas,3 Sim 10:2(A.D. 155),in ANF,II:55
"But lest some suppose, from what has been said by us, that we say that whatever happens, happens by a fatal necessity, because it is foretold as known beforehand, this too we explain. We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, and chastisements, and good rewards, arerendered according to the merit of each man’s actions. Since if it be not so, but all things happen by fate, neither is anything at all in our own power. For if it be fated that this man, e.g., be good, and this other evil, neither is the former meritorious nor the latter to be blamed. And again, unless the human race have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions, of whatever kind they be. But that it is by free choice they both walk uprightly and stumble, we thus demonstrate. We see the same man making a transition to opposite things. Now, if it had been fated that he were to be either good or bad, he could never have been capable of both the opposites, nor of so many transitions. But not even would some be good and others bad, since we thus make fate the cause of evil, and exhibit her as acting in opposition to herself; or that which has been already stated would seem to be true, that neither virtue nor vice is anything, but that things are only reckoned good or evil by opinion; which, as the true word shows, is the greatest impiety and wickedness. But this we assert is inevitable fate, that they who choose the good have worthy rewards, and they who choose the opposite have their merited awards. For not like other things, as trees and quadrupeds, which cannot act by choice, did God make man: for neither would he be worthy of reward or praise did he not of himself choose the good, but were created for this end; nor, if he were evil, would he be worthy of punishment, not being evil of himself, but being able to be nothing else than what he was made." Justin Martyr,First Apology,6(A.D. 155),in ANF,I:177
"On this account also Paul the Apostle says to the Corinthians, ’Know ye not, that they who run in a racecourse, do all indeed run, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. Every one also who engages inthe contest is temperate in all things: now these men ida it] that they may obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. But I so run, not as uncertainty; I fight, not as One beating the air; but I make my body livid, and bring it into subjection, lest by any means, when preaching to others, I may myself be rendered a castaway.’ This able wrestler, therefore, exhorts us to the struggle for immortality, that we may be crowned, and may deem the crown precious, namely, that which is acquired by our struggle, but which does not encircle us of its own accord (sed non ultro coalitam)." Irenaeus,Against Heresies,4:7(A.D. 180),in ANF,I:520
"But do you also, if you please, give reverential attention to the prophetic Scriptures, and they will make your way plainer for escaping the eternal punishments, and obtaining the eternal prizes of God. For He who gave the mouth for speech, and formed the ear to hear, and made the eye to see, will examine all things, and will judge righteous judgment, rendering merited awards to each. To those who by patient continuanceinwell-doingseekimmortality, He will give life everlasting, joy, peace, rest, and abundance of good things, which neither hath eye seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. But to the unbelieving and despisers, whoobey notthe truth, but are obedient to unrighteousness, when they shall have been filled with adulteries and fornications, and filthiness, and covetousness, and unlawful idolatries, there shall beanger and wrath, tribulation and anguish, and at the last everlasting fire shall possess such men. Since you said, "Show me thy God," this is my God, and I counsel you to fear Him and to trust Him."
Theophilius of Antioch,To Autolycus,I:14(A.D. 181),in ANF,II:93
" ’And other sheep there are also,’ saith the Lord, ’which are not of this fold ’--deemed worthy of another fold and mansion, in proportion to their faith. ’But My sheep hear My voice,’ understanding gnostically the commandments. And this is to be taken in a magnanimous and worthy acceptation, along with also the recompense and accompaniment of works. So that when we hear, ’Thy faith hath saved thee, we do not understand Him to say absolutely that those who have believed in any way whatever shall be saved,unlessalso works follow. But it was to the Jews alone that He spoke this utterance, who kept the law and lived blamelessly, who wanted only faith in the Lord. No one, then, can be a believer and at the same time be licentious; but though he quit the flesh, he must put off the passions, so as to be capable of reaching his own mansion." Clement of Alexandria,The Stromata,6:14(A.D. 202),in ANF,II:505
"[T]hus by the grace of the Saviour healing their souls, enlightening them and leading them to the attainment of the truth; and whosoever obtains this and distinguishes himself in good works shall gain the prize of everlasting life... But others rightly and adequately comprehend this, but attachingslight importanceto theworkswhich tend to salvation, do not make the requisite preparation for attaining to the objects of their hope." Clement of Alexandria,Who is the rich man that shall be saved?,1,2(A.D. 210),in ANF,II:591
"[T]he apostolic teaching is that the soul, having a substance and life of its own, shall, after its departure from the world, berewarded according to its deserts,being destined to obtain either an inheritance of eternal life and blessedness, if its actions shall have procuredthis for it, or to be delivered up to eternal fire and punishments, if the guilt of its crimes shall have brought it down to this" Origen,First Principles,Preface 5(A.D. 230),in ANF,IV:240
"Whoever dies in his sins, even if he profess to believe in Christ, does not truly believe in Him, and even if that whichexists without works be called faith, such faith is deadin itself, as we read in the Epistle bearing the nameof James." Origen,Commentary on John,19:6(A.D. 232),in JUR,I:202 "And in like manner, the Gentiles by faith in Christ prepare for themselves eternal lifethrough good works."
Hippolytus,Commentary on Proverbs(ante A.D. 235),in ANF,V:174
"He, in administering the righteous judgment of the Father to all, assigns to each what isrighteous according to his works....the justification will be seen in the awarding to each that which is just; since to those who have done well shall be assigned righteously eternal bliss, and to the lovers of iniquity shall be given eternal punishment. And the fire which is un-quenchable and without end awaits these latter, and a certain fiery worm which dieth not...But the righteous will remember only the righteous deeds by which they reached the heavenly kingdom, in which there is neither sleep, nor pain, nor corruption"
Hippolytus,Against Plato,3(ante A.D. 235),in ANF,V:222-223
"For both to prophesy and to cast out devils, and to do great acts upon the earth is certainly a sublime and an admirable thing; but one does not attain the kingdom of heaven although he is found in all these things, unless hewalks in the observance of the right and just way. The Lord denounces, and says, ’Many shall say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.’ There is need of righteousness, that one may deserve well of God the Judge; we must obey His precepts and warnings, that our merits may receive their reward. " Cyprian,On the Unity of the Church,16(A.D. 251),in ANF,V:423
"Youmust praymore eagerly and entreat; you must spend the day in grief; wear out nights in watchings and weepings; occupy all your time in wailful lamentations; lying stretched on the ground, you must cling close to the ashes, be surrounded with sackcloth and filth; after losing the raiment of Christ, you must be willing now to have no clothing; after the devil’s meat, you must prefer fasting; be earnest in righteous works,wherebysins may be purged; frequently applyyourself to almsgiving, whereby souls are freed from death. What the adversary took from you, let Christ receive; nor ought your estate now either to be held or loved, by which you have been both deceived and conquered. Wealth must be avoided as an enemy; must be fled from as a robber; must be dreaded by its possessors as a sword and as poison. To this end only so much as remains should be of service, that by it the crime and the fault may be redeemed. Letgood worksbe done without delay, and largely; let all your estate be laid out for the healing of your wound; let uslend of our wealthand our means to the Lord, who shall judge concerning us. Thus faith flourished in the time of the apostles; thus the first people ofbelievers kept Christ’s commands: they were prompt, they were liberal, they gave their all to be distributed by the apostles; and yet they were not redeeming sins of such a character as these." Cyprian,On the Lapsed,35(A.D. 251),in ANF,V:447
"You therefore, who are rich and wealthy, buy for yourself of Christ gold tried by fire;that you may be pure gold, with your filth burnt out as if by fire, if you are purgedbyalmsgiving and righteous works. Buy for yourself white raiment, that you who had been naked according to Adam, and were before frightful and unseemly, may be clothed with the white garment of Christ. And you who are a wealthy and rich matron in Christ’s Church, anoint your eyes, not with the collyrium of the devil, but with Christ’s eye-salve, that you may be able to attain to see God, by deserving well of God, both by good works and character." Cyprian,Works and Almsgiving,14(A.D. 252),in ANF,V:480
"For this reason He has given us this present life, that we may eitherlosethat true andeternal lifeby ourvices, orwinit byvirtue."Lactantius,Divine Institutes,7:5(A.D. 310),in ANF,VII:200
"But our faith thus teaches, that when men fall asleep, they sleep this slumber without knowing good from evil. And the righteous look not forward to their promises, nor do the wicked look forward to their sentence of punishment, until the Judge come and separate those whose place is at His right hand from those whose place is at His left. And be thou instructed by that which is written, that when the Judge shall sit, and the books be opened before Him and the good and evil deeds recited, then they that have wrought good worksshall receive good rewards from Him Who is good; and they that have doneevil deedsshallreceive evil penaltiesfrom the just Judge... But hear, my beloved, this proof that retribution shall take place at the end. For when the Shepherd divides His flock and sets some on His right hand and some on His left. until He shall have acknowledged the service of the good, then He will cause them to inherit the kingdom; and until He shall have rebuked the evil and they are condemned, then He will send them to the torment."
Aphrahat,Select Demonstrations,8:21(A.D. 345),in NPNF2,XIII:381-382
"Terrible in good truth is the judgment, and terrible the things announced. The kingdom of heaven is set before us, and everlasting fire is prepared. How then, some one will say, are we to escape the fire? And how to enter into the kingdom? I was an hungered, He says, and ye gave Me meat. Learn hence the way; there is here no need of allegory, but to fulfil what is said. I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in; naked, and ye clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.These things if thou do, thou shall reign together with Him; but if thou do them not, thou shalt be condemned. At once then begin to do these works, and abide in the faith; lest, like the foolish virgins, tarrying to buy oil, thou be shut out." Cyril of Jerusalem,Catechetical Lectures,15:26(A.D. 350),in NPNF2,VII:112
"We shall be raised therefore, all with our bodies eternal, but not all with bodies alike: for if a man is righteous, he will receive a heavenly body, that he may be able worthily to hold converse with Angels; but if a man is a sinner, he shall receive an eternal body, fitted to endure the penalties of sins, that he may burn eternally in fire, nor ever be consumed. And righteously will God assign this portion to either company; for we do nothing without the body. Weblaspheme with the mouth, andwith the mouth we pray. With the body we commit fornication, and with the body we keep chastity. With the hand we rob, and by the hand we bestow alms; and the rest in like manner. Since then the body has been our minister in all things, it shall also share with us in the future the fruits of the past. Therefore, brethren, let us be careful of our bodies, nor misuse them as though not our own. Let us not say like the heretics, that this vesture of the body belongs not to us, but let us be careful of it as our own; for we must giveaccountto the Lord ofall things done through the body. Say not, none seeth me; think not, that there is no witness of the deed. Human witness oftentimes there is not; but He who fashioned us, an unerring witness, abides faithful in heaven, and beholds what thou doest. And the stains of sin also remain in the body; for as when a wound has gone deep into the body, even if there has been a healing, the scar remains, so sin wounds soul and body, and the marks of its scars remain in all; and they areremoved onlyfrom thosewho receive the washing of Baptism. The past wounds therefore of soul and bodyGod heals by Baptism; against future ones let us one and all jointly guard ourselves, that we may keep this vestment of the body pure, and may not for practising fornication and sensual indulgence or any other sin for a short season, lose the salvation of heaven, but may inherit the eternal kingdom of God; of which may God, of His own grace, deem all of you worthy."
Cyril of Jerusalem,Catechetical Lectures,18:19,20(A.D. 350),in NPNF2,VII:139
"For it is not productive of virtue, nor is it any token of goodness. For none of us is judged for what he knows not, and no one is called blessed because he hath learning and knowledge. But each one will be called to judgment in these points--whether he have kept the faith andtruly observed the commandments." Athanasius,Life of Antony,33(A.D. 362),in NPNF2,IV:205
" ’O Lord, my heart is not exalted, neither have mine eyes been lifted up.’ This Psalm, a short one, which demands an analytical rather than a homiletical treatment, teaches us the lesson of humility and meekness. Now, as we have in a great number of other places spoken about humility, there is no need to repeat the same things here. Of course we are bound to bear in mind in how great need ourfaith stands of humility when we hear the Prophet thus speaking of it as equivalent to the performance of the highest works: O Lord, my heart is not exalted. For a troubled heart is the noblest sacrifice in the eyes of God. The heart, therefore, must not be lifted up by prosperity, but humbly kept within the bounds of meekness through the fear of God."
Hilary of Poitiers,Commentary on the Psalms 130:1-8/131:1(A.D. 365),in NPNF2,IX:247
"Finally Scripture teaches us how far from common are these stones, inasmuch as, whilst some brought one kind, and others another, of less precious offerings, these the devout princes brought, wearing them upon their shoulders, and made of them the ’breastplate of judgment,’ that is, a piece of woven work. Now we havea woven work, when faith and action go together. Let none suppose me to be misguided, in that I made at first a threefold division, each part containing four, and afterwards a fourfold division, each part containing three terms. The beauty of a good thing pleases the more, if it be shown under various aspects. For those are good things, whereof the texture of the priestly robe was the token, that is to say, either the Law, or the Church, which latter hath made two garments for her spouse, as it is written’--the one of action, the other of spirit, weaving together the threads of faith and works.... Faith is profitable, therefore, when her brow is brightwith a fair crown of good works. This faith--that I may set the matter forth shortly--is contained in the following principles, which cannot be overthrown." Ambrose,On the Christian Faith,II:11,13(A.D. 380),in NPNF2,X:225
"Then, in the tenth place, work that which is good upon this foundation of dogma; for faith without works is dead, even as are works apart from faith. This is all that may be divulged of the Sacrament, and that is not forbidden to the ear of the many. The rest yon shall learn within the Church by the grace of the Holy Trinity; and those matters you shall conceal within yourself, sealed and secure." Gregory of Nazianzen,Oration on Holy Baptism,45(A.D. 381),in NPNF2,VII:377
" ’Is it thenenough,’ saith one,’to believe on the Son, that one may have eternal life?’ By no means. And hear Christ Himself declaring this, and saying, "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. vii. 21); and the blasphemy against the Spirit is enough of itself to cast a man into hell. But why speak I of a portion of doctrine? Though a man believe rightly on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, yet if he lead not a right life, hisfaith will avail nothingtowards his salvation." Chrysostom John,Homilies on John,31:1(A.D. 391),in NPNF1,XIV:106
"You had a wife, the apostle says, when you believed. Do not fancy your faith in Christ to be a reason for parting from her. For ’God hath called us in peace.’ ’Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but thekeepingof thecommandmentsof God.’ Neither celibacy nor wedlock is of theslightest usewithout works, since even faith, the distinguishing mark of Christians,if it have not works, is said to be dead, and on such terms as these the virgins of Vesta or of Juno, who was constant to one husband, might claim to be numbered among the saints." Jerome,To Pammachius,Epistle 48:6(A.D. 393),in NPNF2,VI:69
"Paul, joining righteousness to faith and weaving them together, constructs of them the breastsplates for the infantryman, armoring the soldier properly and safely on both sides. A soldier cannot be considered safely armored when either shield is disjoined from the other. For faith without works of justiceis notsufficient for salvation;neither, however, is righteous livingsecure in itself of salvation,if it is disjoined from faith." Gregory of Nyssa,Homilies on Ecclesiastes 8:1-17(A.D. 394),in JUR,II:45-46
"There is no gift of God more excellent than this. It alone distinguishes the sons of the eternal kingdom and the sons of eternal perdition. Other gifts, too, are given by the Holy Spirit; butwithout lovethey profit nothing. Unless, therefore, the Holy Spirit is so far imparted to each, as to make him one who loves God and his neighbor, he is not removed from the left hand to the right. Nor is the Spirit specially called the Gift, unless on account of love. And he who has not this love, ’though he speak with the tongues of men and angels, is sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal; and though he have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and though he have all faith, so that he can remove mountains, he is nothing; and though he bestow all his goods to feed the poor, and though he give his body to be burned, it profiteth him nothing.’ How great a good, then, is that without which goods so great bring no one to eternal life! But love or charity itself,--for they are two names for one thing,--if he have it that does not speak with tongues, nor has the gift of prophecy, nor knows all mysteries and all knowledge, nor gives all his goods to the poor, either because he has none to give or because some necessity hinders, nor delivers his body to be burned, if no trial of such a suffering overtakes him, brings that man to the kingdom, so thatfaithitself is onlyrendered profitableby love,since faithwithout lovecan indeed exist, butcannot profit. And therefore also the Apostle Paul says, ’In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by love:’ so distinguishing it from that faith by which even ’the devils believe and tremble.’ Love,therefore, which isof God and is God, is specially the Holy Spirit, by whom the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by which love the whole Trinity dwells in us. And therefore most rightly is the Holy Spirit, although He is God, called also the gift of God. And by that gift what else can properly be understoodexcept love, which brings to God, and without which any other gift of God whatsoever does not bring to God?" Augustine,On the Trinity,15:18,32(A.D. 416),in NPNF1,III:217
"According to the Catholic faith we believe this also, that aftergracehas beenreceivedthroughbaptism, all the baptized with the help and cooperation of Christcan andought to fufillwhat pertains to the salvation of the soul, if they will labor faithfully." Council of Orange II,Predestination (A.D. 529),in DEN,81
"They acknowledge that they know God, but in deeds they deny Him (Tit. i. 16). And John says, He that saith that he knows Him, and keepethnot His commandments, is a liar (1 John ii. 4). James also, the brother of the Lord, writes saying, Faith without works is dead (Jam. ii. 20). If, then, believers now are notsaved without good works, while the unbelievingand reprobate without good action were saved by our Lord descending into hell, then the lot of those who never saw the incarnation of the Lord was better than that of these who have been born after the mystery of His incarnation."
Gregory the Great.Pope [regn. A.D. 590-604],To George(Presbyter),Epistle 15,in NPNF2,XII:216 "If good life is wanting, faith has no merit,as the blessed James attests, who says, Faith without works is dead (Jam; ii. 18)." Gregory the Great, Pope [regn. A.D. 590-604],To Theoderic,Epistle 110,in NPNF2,XIII:29
"The remission of sins, therefore, is granted alike to allthrough baptism: but the grace of the Spirit isproportionalto thefaithand previous purification. Now, indeed, we receive thefirstfruitsof theHoly Spiritthroughbaptism, and the second birth is for us the beginning and seal and security and illumination s of another life. It behoves as, then, with all our strength to steadfastly keep ourselvespure from filthy works, that we may not, like the dog returning to his vomit, make ourselves again the slaves of sin. For faith apart from works is dead, and so likewise are works apart from faith. For the true faith is attested by works." John Damascene,Orthodox Faith,9(A.D. 743),in NPNF2,IX:73 This text may downloaded and viewed for private reading only. This text may not be used by another Web site or published, electronically or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Joseph A. Gallegos © 1999 All Rights Reserved.
Infused Righteousness
"This truth, therefore, [he declares], in order that we may not reject the engrafting of the Spirit while pampering the flesh. ’But thou, being a wild olive-tree,’ he says, ’hast been grafted into the good olive-tree, and been made a partaker of the fatness of the olive-tree.’ As, therefore, when the wild olive has been engrafted, if it remain in its former condition, viz., a wild olive, it is ’cut off, and cast into the fire;’but if it takes kindly to the graft, and is changed into the good olive-tree, it becomes a fruit-bearing olive, planted, as it were, in a king’s park (paradiso): l, as being planted in the paradise of God. But if they cast out the Spirit, and remain in their former condition, desirous of being of the flesh rather than of the Spirit, then it is very justly said with regard to men of this stamp, ’That flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God;’ just as if any one were to say that the wild olive is not received into the paradise of God. Admirably therefore does the apostle exhibit our nature, and God’s universal appointment, in his discourse about flesh and blood and the wild olive. For as the good olive, if neglected for a certain time, if left to grow wild and to run to i wood, does itself become a wild olive; or again, if the wild olive be carefully tended and grafted, it naturally reverts to its former fruit-bearing condition: so men also, when they become careless, and bring forth for fruit the lusts of the flesh like woody produce, are rendered, by their own fault, unfruitful in righteousness. For when men sleep, the enemy sows the material of tares; and for this cause did the Lord command His disciples to be on the watch. And again, those persons who are not bringing forth the fruits of righteousness, and are, as it were, covered over and lost among brambles, if they use diligence, and receive the word of God as a graft, arrive at the pristine nature of man--that which was created after the image and likeness of God." Irenaeus,Against Heresies,5:10,1(A.D. 180),in ANF,I:536
"But if they acted as men who had any part in God, and thereby in reason also, they would first weigh well the importance of repentance, and would never apply it in such a way as to make it a ground for convicting themselves of perverse self-amendment. In short, they would regulate the limit of their repentance, because they would reach (a limit) in sinning too--by fearing God, I mean. But where there is no fear, in like manner there is no amendment; where there is no amendment, repentance is of necessity vain, for it lacks the fruit for which God sowed it; that is, man’s salvation. For God--after so many and so great sins of human temerity, begun by the first of the race, Adam, after the condemnation of man, together with the dowry of the world? after his ejection from paradise and subjection to death--when He had hasted back to His own mercy, did from that time onward inaugurate repentance in His own self, by rescinding the sentence of His first wrath, engaging to grant pardon to His own work and image. And so He gathered together a people for Himself, and fostered them with many liberal distributions of His bounty, and, after so often finding them most ungrateful, ever exhorted them to repentance and sent out the voices of the universal company of the prophets to prophesy. By and by, promising freely the grace which in the last times He was intending to pour as a flood of light on the universal world through His Spirit, He bade the baptism of repentance lead the way, with the view of first preparing, by means of the sign and seal of repentance, them whom He was calling, through grace, to (inherit) the promise surely made to Abraham. John holds not his peace, saying, ’Enter upon repentance, for now shall salvation approach the nations’--the Lord, that is, bringing salvation according to God’s promise. To Him John, as His harbinger, directed the repentance (which he preached), whose province was the purging of men’s minds,that whatever defilement inveterate error had imparted, whatever contamination in the heart of man ignorance had engendered, that repentance should sweep and scrape away, and cast out of doors, and thus prepare the home of the heart, by making it clean, for the Holy Spirit, who was about to supervene, that He might with pleasure introduce Himself there-into, together with His celestial blessings. Of these blessings the title is briefly one the salvation of man--the abolition of former sins being the preliminary step. This is the (final) cause of repentance, this her work, in taking in hand the business of divine mercy. What is profitable to man does service to God. The rule of repentance, however, which we learn when we know the Lord, retains a definite form,--viz., that no violent hands so to speak, be ever laid on good deeds or thoughts. For God, never giving His sanction to the reprobation of good deeds, inasmuch as they are His own (of which, being the author, He must necessarily be the defender too), is in like manner the acceptor of them, and if the acceptor, likewise the rewarder. Let, then, the ingratitude of men see to it, if it attaches repentance even to good works; let their gratitude see to it too, if the desire of earning it be the incentive to well-doing: earthly and mortal are they each. For how small is your gain if you do good to a grateful man! or your loss if to an ungrateful! A good deed has God as its debtor, just as an evil has too; for a judge is rewarder of every cause. Well, since, God as Judge presides over the exacting and maintaining of justice, which to Him is most dear; and since it is with an eye to justice that He appoints all the sum of His discipline, is there room for doubting that, just as in all our acts universally, so also in the case of repentance, justice must be rendered to God?--which duty can indeed only be fulfilled on the condition that repentance be brought to bear only on sins. Further, no deed but an evil one deserves to be called sin, nor does any one err by well-doing. But if he does not err, why does he invade (the province of) repentance, the private ground of such as do err ? Why does he impose on his goodness a duty proper to wickedness? Thus it comes to pass that, when a thing is called into play where it ought not, there, where it ought, it is neglected."
Tertullian,On Repentance,2(A.D. 204),in ANF,III:657-658
"And since many saints participate in the Holy Spirit, He cannot therefore be understood to be a body, which being divided into corporeal parts, is partaken of by each one of the saints; but He is manifestly a sanctifying power, in which all are said to have a share who have deserved to besanctified by His grace." Origen,First Principles,I:I,3(A.D. 230),in ANF,IV:242-243
"No doubt all they imitate Adam who by disobedience transgress the commandment of God; but he is one thing as an example to those who sin because they choose; and another thing as the progenitor of all who are born with sin. All His saints, also, imitate Christ in the pursuit of righteousness; whence the same apostle, whom we have already quoted, says: ’Be ye imitators of me, as I am also of Christ.’ But besides this imitation, His grace works within us our illumination and justification, by that operation concerning which the same preacher of His [name] says: ’Neither is he that planteth anything, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth theincrease.’ For by this grace He engrafts into His bodyeven baptized infants, who certainly have not yet become able to imitate any one. As therefore He, in whom all are made alive, besides offering Himself as an example of righteousness to those who imitate Him, gives also to those who believe on Him the hidden grace of His Spirit, which He secretly infuses even into infants..."Augustine,On the merits and forgiveness of sins,1:9(A.D. 412),in NPNF1,V:19
"You are mistaken, and are deceived, whosoever you are, that think yourself rich in this world. Listen to the voice of your Lord in the Apocalypse, rebuking men of your stamp with righteous reproaches: ’Thou sayest,’ says He, ’I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness may not appear in thee; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.’ You therefore, who are rich and wealthy, buy for yourself of Christ gold tried by fire; that you may be pure gold, with your filth burnt out as if by fire, if you are purged by almsgiving and righteous works. Buy for yourself white raiment, that you who had been naked according to Adam, and were before frightful and unseemly, may be clothed with the white garment of Christ. And you who are a wealthy and rich matron in Christ’s Church, anoint your eyes, not with the collyrium of the devil, but with Christ’s eye-salve, that you may be able to attain to see God, by deserving well of God, bothby good works and character."Cyprian,On Works and Alms,14(A.D. 254),in ANF,V:479-480 "For He was made man that we might be made God..." Athanasius,Incarnation,54(A.D. 318),in NPNF2,IV:65
"Therefore it will be much more accurate to denote God from the Son and to call Him Father, than to name Him and call Him Un-originated from His works only; for the latter term refers to the works that have come to be at the will of God through the Word, but the name of Father points out the proper offspring from His essence. And whereas the I Word surpasses things originated, by so much and more also doth calling God Father surpass the calling Him Unoriginated; for the latter is non-scriptural and suspicious, as it has various senses; but the former is simple and scriptural, and more accurate, and alone implies the Son. And ’Unoriginated’ is a word of the Greeks who know not the Son: but ’Father’ has been acknowledged and vouchsafed by our Lord; for He knowing Himself whose Son He was, said, ’I in the Father and the Father in Me;’ and, ’He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father;’ and, ’I and the Father are one;’ but nowhere is He found to call the Father Unoriginated. Moreover, when He teaches us to pray, He says not, ’When ye pray, say, O God Unoriginated,’ but rather, ’When ye pray, say, Our Father, which art in heavens.’ And it was His Will, that the Summary of our faith should have the same bearing. For He has bid us be baptized, not in the name of Unoriginate and Originate, not into the name of Uncreate and Creature, but into the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for with such an initiation we too are made sons verily, and using the name of the Father, we acknowledge from that name the Word in the Father. But if He wills that we should call His own Father our Father, we must not on that account measure ourselves with the Son according to nature, for it is because of the Son that the Father is so called by us; for since the Word bore our body and came to be in us, therefore by reason of the Word in us, is God called our Father. For the Spirit of the Word in us names through us His own Father as ours, which is the Apostle’s meaning when he says, ’God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Soninto your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.’ " Athanasius,On the Defense of the Nicene Creed,31(A.D. 351),in NPNF2,IV:171-172
" ’To declare His righteousness.’ What is declaring of righteousness? Like the declaring of His riches, not only for Him to be rich Himself, but also to make others rich, or of life, not only that He is Himself living, but also that He makes the dead to live; and of His power, not only that He is Himself powerful, but also that He makes the feeble powerful. So also is the declaring of His righteousness not only that He is Himself righteous, but that He doth also make them that are filled with the putrefying sores ’asapentas’) of sinsuddenly righteous." Chrysostom John,Romans,Homily VII:24,25(A.D. 391),in NPNF`1,XI:378
"Here, perhaps, it may be said by that presumption of man, which is ignorant of the righteousness of God, and wishes to establish one of its own, that the apostle quite properly said, ’For by the law shall no man be justified,’ in as much as the law merely shows what one ought to do, and what one ought to guard against, in order that what the law thus points out may be accomplished by the will, and so man be justified, not indeed by the power of the law, but by his free determination. But I ask your attention, O man, to what follows. ’But now the righteousness of God,’ says he, ’without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.’ Does this then sound a light thing in deaf ears? He says, ’The righteousness of God is manifested.’ Now this righteousness they are ignorant of, who wish to establish one of their own; they will not submit themselves to it. His words are, ’The righteousness of God is manifested:’ he does not say, the righteousness of man, or the righteousness of his own will, but the ’righteousness of God,’--not that whereby He is Himself righteous, but that with which He endows man when He justifies the ungodly. This is witnessed by the law and the prophets; in other words, the law and the prophets each afford it testimony. The law, indeed, by issuing its commands and threats, and by justifying no man, sufficiently shows that it is byGod’s gift, through the help of the Spirit, that a man is justified; and the prophets, because it was what they predicted that Christ at His coming accomplished." Augustine,On the Spirit and the Letter,9:15(A.D. 412),in NPNF1,V:89
"Now he could not mean to contradict himself in saying, ’The doers of the law shall be justified,’ as if their justification came through their works, and not through grace; since he declares that a man is justified freely by His grace without the works of the law, intending by the term ’freely’ nothing else than that works do not precede justification. For in another passage he expressly says, ’If by grace, then is it no more of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace.’ But the statement that ’the doers of the law shall be justified’ must be so understood, as that we may know that they are not otherwise doers of the law, unless they be justified, so that justification does not subsequently accrue to them as doers of the law, but justification precedes them as doers of the law. For what else does the phrase ’being justified’ signify than being made righteous, -- by Him, of course, who justifies the ungodly man, thathe may become a godly one instead? For if we were to express a certain fact by saying, ’The men will be liberated,’ the phrase would of course be understood as asserting that the liberation would accrue to those who were men already; but if we were to say, The men will be created, we should certainly not be understood as asserting that the creation would happen to those who were already in existence, but that they became men by the creation itself. If in like manner it were said, The doers of the law shall be honoured, we should only interpret the statement correctly if we supposed that the honour was to accrue to those who were already doers of the law: but when the allegation is, ’The doers of the law shall be justified,’ what else does it mean than that the just shall be justified? for of course the doers of the law are just persons. And thus it amounts to the same thing as if it were said, The doers of the lawshall be created,-- not those who were so already, but that they may become such; in order that the Jews who were hearers of the law might hereby understand that they wanted the grace of the Justifier, in order to be able to become its doers also. Or else the term ’They shall be justified is used in the sense of, They shall be deemed, or reckoned as just, as it is predicated of a certain man in the Gospel, ’But he, willing to justify himself,’-- meaning that he wished to be thought and accounted just. In like manner, we attach one meaning to the statement, ’God sanctifies His saints,’ and another to the words, ’Sanctified be Thy name; ’ for in the former case we suppose the words to mean that He makes those to be saints who were not saints before, and in the latter, that the prayer would have that which is always holy in itself be also regarded as holy by men, -- in a word, be feared with a hallowed awe."
Augustine,On the Spirit and the Letter,26:45(A.D. 412),in NPNF1,V:89
"For then it is true wisdom; for if it is human, it is vain. Yet not so of God, as is that wherewith God is wise. For He is not wise by partaking of Himself, as the mind is by partaking of God. But as we call it the righteousness of God, not only when we speak of that by which He Himself is righteous, but also of that which He gives to man when He justifies the ungodly, which latter righteousness the apostle commending, says of some, that ’not knowing the righteousness of God and going about to establish their own righteousness,they are not subject to the righteousness of God;’ so also it may be said of some, that not knowing the wisdom of God and going about to establish their own wisdom, they are not subject to the wisdom of God."
Augustine,On the Trinity,14:12,5(A.D. 416),in NPNF1,III:191
"Although there are many who appear to do what the law commands, through fear of punishment, not through love of righteousness; and such righteousness as this the apostle calls ’his own which is after the law,’--a thing as it were commanded, not given. When, indeed, it has been given, it is not called our own righteousness, but God’s; because it becomes our own only so that we have it from God. These are the apostle’s words: ’That I may be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith.’ So great, then, is the difference between the law and grace, that although the law is undoubtedly of God, yet the righteousness which is ’of the law’ is not ’of God,’ but the righteousness which isconsummated by grace is ’of God.’ The one is designated ’the righteousness of the law,’ because it is done through fear of the curse of the law; while the other is called ’the righteousness of God,’ because it is bestowed through the beneficence ofHis grace, so that it is not a terrible but a pleasant commandment, according to the prayer in the psalm: ’Good art Thou, O Lord, therefore in Thy goodness teach me Thy righteousness;’ that is, that I may not be compelled like a slave to live under the law with fear of punishment; but rather in the freedom of love may be delighted to live with law as my companion. When the freeman keeps a commandment, he does it readily. And whosoever learns his duty in this spirit, does everything that he has learned ought to be done." Augustine,On the Grace of Christ,13:14(A.D. 418),in NPNF1,V:223
"But then who are those gods, or where are they, of whom God is the true God? Another Psalm saith, ’God hath stood in the synagogue of gods, but in the midst He judgeth gods.’ As yet we know not whether perchance any gods be congregated in heaven, and in their congregation, for this is ’in the synagogue,’ God hath stood to judge. See in the same Psalm those to whom he saith, ’I have said, Ye are gods, and children of the Highest all; but ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.’ It is evident then, that He hath called men gods, that are deified of His Grace, not born of His Substance. For He doth justify, who is just through His own self, and not of another; and He doth deify who is God through Himself, not by the partaking of another. But He that justifieth doth Himself deify, in that by justifying He doth make sons of God. ’For He hath given them power to become the sons of God.’ If we have been made sons of God, we have also been made gods: but this is the effect ofGrace adopting, not of nature generating. For the only Son of God, God, and one God with the Father, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, was in the beginning the Word, and the Word with God, the Word God. The rest that are made gods, are madeby His own Grace,are not born of His Substance, that they should be the same as He, but that by favour they should come to Him, and be fellow-heirs with Christ. For so great is the love in Him the Heir, that He hath willed to have fellow-heirs. What covetous man would will this, to have fellow-heirs?"
Augustine,On the Psalms 49:1-20/50:2(A.D. 418),in NPNF1,VIII:178
"But in order that he might be taught whose that was, of which he had begun to boast as if it were his own, he was admonished by the gradual desertion of God’s grace, and says: ’O Lord, in Thy good pleasure Thou didst add strength to my beauty. Thou didst, however, turn away Thy face, and then I was troubled and distressed.’ Thus, it is necessary for a man that he should be not only justified when unrighteous by the grace of God,--that is, be changed from unholiness to righteousness,--when he is requited with good for his evil; but that, even after he has become justified by faith, grace should accompany him on his way, and he should lean upon it, lest he fall. On this account it is written concerning the Church herself in the book of Canticles: ’Who is this that cometh up in white raiment, leaning upon her kinsman?’ Made white is she who by herself alone could not be white. And by whom has she been made white except by Him who says by the prophet, ’Though your sins be as purple, I will make them white as snow’? At the time, then, that she was made white, she deserved nothing good; but now that she is made white, she walketh well;--but it is only by her continuing ever to lean upon Him by whom she was made white. Wherefore, Jesus Himself, on whom she leans that was made white, said to His disciples, ’Without me ye can do nothing.’ " Augustine,On Grace and Free Will,6:13(A.D. 427),in NPNF1,V:449
"This then is the righteousness of God. As it is called, ’The Lord’s salvation,’ not whereby the Lord is saved, but which He giveth to them whom He saveth; so too the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord is called the righteousness of God, not as that whereby the Lord is righteous, but whereby He justifieth those whom of ungodly He maketh righteous. But some, as the Jews in former times, both wish to be called Christians, and still ignorant of God’s righteousness, desire to establish their own, even in our own times, in the times of opengrace, the times of the full revelation ofgracewhich before was hidden; in the times ofgracenow manifested in the floor, which once lay hid in the fleece. I see that a few have understood me, that more have not understood, whom I will by no means defraud by keeping silence. Gideon, one of the righteous men of old, asked for a sign from the Lord, and said, ’Ipray, Lord, that this fleece which I put in the floor be bedewed, and that the floor be dry.’ And it was so; the fleece was bedewed, the whole floor was dry. In the morning he wrung out tim fleece in a basin; for as much as to the humble is grace given; and in a basin, ye know what the Lord did to His disciples. Again, he asked for another sign; ’O Lord, I would,’ saith he, ’that the fleece be dry, the floor bedewed.’ And it was so. Call to mind the time of the Old Testament, grace was hidden in a cloud, as the rain in the fleece. Mark now the time of the New Testament, consider well the nation of the Jews, thou wilt find it as a dry fleece; whereas the whole world, like that floor, isfull of grace,not hidden, but manifested. Wherefore we are forced exceedingly to bewail our brethren, who strive not against hidden, but against open and manifested grace. There is allowance for the Jews. What shall we say of Christians? Wherefore are ye enemies to the grace of Christ? Why rely ye on yourselves? Why unthankful? For why did Christ come? Was not nature here before? Was not nature here, which ye only deceive by your excessive praise? Was not the Law here? But the Apostle says, ’If righteousness come by the Law, then Christ is dead in vain.’ What the Apostle says of the Law, that say we of nature to these men. ’If righteousness come by nature, then Christ is dead in vain.’ " Augustine,Sermon 131:9,on John 6:53(ante A.D. 431),in NPNF1,VI:503-504 This text may downloaded and viewed for private reading only. This text may not be used by another Web site or published, electronically or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Joseph A. Gallegos © 1997-1998 All Rights Reserved.