Homilies on the Gospel of John

Whence then shall we begin? From the sonship itself? What then is the distinction between the first and second? The first is the honor of a name, in the second the thing goes with it. Of the first the Prophet says, “I have said, You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High”; but of the latter, that they “were born of God.” How, and in what way? By the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. For they, even after they had received the title of sons, retained the spirit of slavery, (for while they remained slaves they were honored with this appellation,) but we being made free, received the honor, not in name, but in deed. And this Paul has declared and said, “For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” For having been born again, and, as one may say, thoroughly remade, we so are called “sons.” And if one consider the character of the holiness, what the first was and what the second, he will find there also great difference. They when they did not worship idols, nor commit fornication or adultery, were called by this name; but we become holy, not by refraining from these vices merely, but by acquiring things greater. And this gift we obtain first by means of the coming upon us of the Holy Ghost; and next, by a rule of life far more comprehensive than that of the Jews. To prove that these words are not mere boasting hear what He says to them, “You shall not use divination, nor make purification of your children, for you are a holy people.” So that holiness with them consisted in being free from the customs of idolatry; but it is not so with us. “That she may be holy,” says Paul, “in body and spirit.” “Follow peace, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord”: and, “Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” For the word “holy” has not force to give the same meaning in every case to which it is applied; since God is called “Holy,” though not as we are. What, for instance, does the Prophet say, when he heard that cry raised by the flying Seraphim? “Woe is me! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips”; though he was holy and clean; but if we be compared with the holiness which is above, we are unclean. Angels are holy, Archangels are holy, the Cherubim and Seraphim themselves are holy, but of this holiness again there is a double difference; that is, in relation to us, and to the higher powers. We might proceed to all the other points, but then the discussion would become too long, and its extent too great. We will therefore desist from proceeding farther, and leave it to you to take in hand the rest, for it is in your power at home to put these things together, and examine their difference, and in the same way to go over what remains. “Give,” says one, “a starting place to the wise, and he becomes wiser.” The beginning is from us, but the end will be from you. We must now resume the connection.

After having said, “Of His fullness have all we received,” he adds, “and grace for grace.” For by grace the Jews were saved: “I chose you,” says God, “not because you were many in number, but because of your fathers.” If now they were chosen by God not for their own good deeds, it is manifest that by grace they obtained this honor. And we too all are saved by grace, but not in like manner; not for the same objects, but for objects much greater and higher. The grace then that is with us is not like theirs. For not only was pardon of sins given to us, (since this we have in common with them, for all have sinned,) but righteousness also, and sanctification, and sonship, and the gift of the Spirit far more glorious and more abundant. By this grace we have become the beloved of God, no longer as servants, but as sons and friends. Wherefore he says, “grace for grace.” Since even the things of the law were of grace, and the very fact of man being created from nothing, (for we did not receive this as a recompense for past good deeds, how could we, when we even were not? But from God who is ever the first to bestow His benefits,) and not only that we were created from nothing, but that when created, we straightway learned what we must and what we must not do, and that we received this law in our very nature, and that our Creator entrusted to us the impartial rule of conscience, these I say, are proofs of the greatest grace and unspeakable lovingkindness. And the recovery of this law after it had become corrupt, by means of the written (Law), this too was the work of grace. For what might have been expected to follow was, that they who falsified the law once given should suffer correction and punishments; but what actually took place was not this, but, on the contrary, an amending of our nature, and pardon, not of debt, but given through mercy and grace. For to show that it was of grace and mercy, hear what David says; “The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed; He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel”: and again; “Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will He give laws to them that are in the way.”

3. Therefore that men received the law was of pity, mercies, and grace; and for this reason he says, “Grace for grace.” But striving yet more fervently to (express) the greatness of the gifts, he goes on to say,

Ver. 17. “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

Do you see how gently, by a single word and little by little, both John the Baptist and John the Disciple lead up their hearers to the highest knowledge, having first exercised them in humbler things? The former having compared to himself Him who is incomparably superior to all, thus afterwards shows His superiority, by saying, “has become before me,” and then adding the words, “was before me”: while the latter has done much more than he, though too little for the worthiness of the Only-Begotten, for he makes the comparison, not with John, but with one reverenced by the Jews more than John, with Moses. “For the law,” says he, “was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

Observe his wisdom. He makes enquiry not concerning the person, but the things; for these being proved, it was probable that even the senseless would of necessity receive from them a much higher judgment and notion respecting Christ. For when facts bear witness, which cannot be suspected of doing so either from favor to any, or from malice, they afford a means of judging which cannot be doubted even by the senseless; for they remain to open view just as their actors may have arranged them, and therefore their evidence is the least liable to suspicion of any. And see how he makes the comparison easy even to the weaker sort; for he does not prove the superiority by argument, but points out the difference by the bare words, opposing “grace and truth” to “law,” and “came” to “was given.” Between each of these there is a great difference; for one, “was given,” belongs to something ministered, when one has received from another, and given to whom he was commanded to give; but the other, “grace and truth came,” befits a king forgiving all offenses, with authority, and himself furnishing the gift. Wherefore He said, “Your sins be forgiven you”; and again, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins (He says to the sick of the palsy), Arise, take up your bed, and go unto your house.”