Proclaiming the Grace of God in Christ Jesus

Some excerpts from the Homilies of St. John Chrysostom concerning the grace of God in Christ Jesus:

The favors of God so far exceed human hope and expectation, that often they are not believed. For God has bestowed upon us such things as the mind of man never looked for, never thought of. It is for this reason that the Apostles spend much discourse in securing a belief in the gifts that are granted to those who believe it; for so it is with respect to the gifts of God. What then was it that was thought incredible? That those who were enemies and sinners, justified neither by the Law nor by works, should immediately through faith alone be advanced to the highest favor. Concerning this grace of God Paul has discoursed at length in his Epistle to the Romans, and here again at length to St. Timothy. “This is a faithful saying,” he says, “and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” (Homily 4 on 1 Timothy)

For our sins, says the Apostle, we had pierced ourselves with ten thousand evils and deserved the gravest punishment; and not only did the Law not deliver us, but it even condemned us, making sin more manifest, without the power to release us from it or to stay the anger of God. But the Son of God made this impossibility possible, for He remitted our sins, He restored us from enmity to the condition of friends, and He freely bestowed on us numberless other blessings. (Homily on Galatians 1)

St. Paul well said, “not a righteousness of my own,” not that which I gained by labor and toil, but that which I found by way of grace. If then he who was so excellent is saved by grace, much more are you. For since it was likely they would say that the righteousness which comes from toil is the greater, he shows that it is dung in comparison with the other. For otherwise I, who was so excellent in it, would not have cast it away and run to the other. But what is that other? That which is by the way of faith in God, which is given by God. This is the righteousness of God, and it is altogether a gift. And the gifts of God far exceed those worthless good deeds which are due to our own diligence. (Homily on Philippians 3)

Why then are you afraid of drawing nigh, since you have no works demanded of you? Why are you bickering and quarrelsome, when grace is before you, and why do you keep putting the Law forward to no purpose whatsoever? For you will not be saved by that, but will rather mar the gift; for if you pertinaciously insist on being saved by the Law, you do away with this grace of God. (Homily 18 on Romans 10–11)

Is it possible, Scripture says, for one to repent and be saved? It is absolutely and most certainly the case. What, though, if I have wasted my life in sins and then repent: will I be saved? Yes, indeed! What source indicates this? The philanthropy of your Master. Can I take courage from your repentance? Could it be that your repentance has the power to wipe clean so many evils? If it were only up to repentance, then assuredly be afraid. However, since repentance is mixed together with the philanthropy of God, take courage. For God’s philanthropy is immeasurable, nor can any word provide the measure of His goodness. Your wickedness is measurable, but the Medicine is immeasurable. Your wickedness, whatever it may be, is human wickedness; but God’s philanthropy is ineffable. Have courage because it surpasses your wickedness. Just think of one spark that fell into the sea; could it stand or be seen? What one spark is in comparison to the sea, so wickedness is before the philanthropy of God; indeed, not even that much, but far less so. For the sea, although it is vast, has limits; but God’s philanthropy is unlimited. (Homily 8 On Repentance and the Church)

After speaking of the wages of sin, in the case of blessings St. Paul has not kept to the same order; for he does not say, the wages of your good deeds, but the gift of God, in order to show that it was not of themselves that they were set free, nor was it a due reward which they received, neither yet a return, nor a recompense of labors, but all these things were by grace. And so there was also this superiority of the blessing over the curse, not only that He freed them and changed their condition for the better, but that He did it all without any labor or trouble on their part: and that He not only freed them, but He also gave them more than before, and that through His Son. (Homily 12 on Romans 6:23)

(Thanks to Pr. William Weedon for providing a selection of choice quotes from St. John Chrysostom, from which the above excerpts were chosen in commemoration of that golden-tongued preacher on this day.)