Post by Mystic Rose on Jul 22, 2005 12:19:46 GMT -5
"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,' inasmuch 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 by God'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).
"For what else does the phrase 'being justified' signify than being made righteous, -- by Him, of course, who justifies the ungodly man, that he 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…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).
"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).
"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 is consummated 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 of His 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.” Augustine, On the Grace of Christ, 13:14 (A.D. 418).
"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 of Grace 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 made by 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, 49/50:2 (A.D. 418).
"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).
"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 open grace, the times of the full revelation of grace which before was hidden; in the times of grace now manifested in the floor, which once lay hid in the fleece…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).
"For what else does the phrase 'being justified' signify than being made righteous, -- by Him, of course, who justifies the ungodly man, that he 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…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).
"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).
"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 is consummated 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 of His 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.” Augustine, On the Grace of Christ, 13:14 (A.D. 418).
"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 of Grace 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 made by 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, 49/50:2 (A.D. 418).
"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).
"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 open grace, the times of the full revelation of grace which before was hidden; in the times of grace now manifested in the floor, which once lay hid in the fleece…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).