BELIEVERS ARE GOD’S ADOPTED CHILDREN St Paul the Apostle ends his refutation of the claim of the Jews to being Abraham’s physical children by explaining that through faith Abraham was justified even while being uncircumcised. Through that same faith, he was justified when he became circumcised. Consequently, he is the father of both the circumcised and the uncircumcised- he is the father of all men. If we desire to claim to be Abraham’s children, we need to be justified with him through faith. The Apostle moves on from underlining that we are the children of Abraham to lift us up to status of being the children of God Himself through the waters of baptism. This is what both converted Gentiles as well as converted Jews enjoy as they all seek to live as children of God, and as they struggle through life. They reflect the resurrected life of the Lord Jesus Christ in their lives, and offer their bodies as instruments of God’s righteousness after they had been corrupt instruments of sin. This is the meaning of the new found liberty: It is not the physical relationship with Abraham that matters; it is the practice of a holy life through divine grace and with the spirit of adoption that matters. 1-The New Life through Baptismv 1-14 2-Freedom through the Lord Jesus Christ 15-23 1- The New Life through Baptism : In the previous chapter, St Paul spoke about the abundance of God’s free grace. It does not end at washing us of sin and erasing all its traces, but it also floods us with God’s innumerable blessings and offers us eternal life as we enjoy fellowship in the divine glory and sublime heavenly inheritance…In this manner, St Paul confirms how the work of grace surpasses sin. Besides, we have to lead a life that is sanctified and pleasing to God and as is fitting to those who have received and evaluate His blessings. The Apostle stresses this point and elaborates on it in this chapter as he explains our adoption through the grace of baptism. He says: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (6:1-4). God, in His mercy, has covered us with the abundance of His grace in order to tear away all traces of sin, and so He has been glorified in us who are sinners. This should not drive us to be careless in our condemnation of sin or as we struggle against it. Indeed, we need to abandon sin, and to behave as is fitting for God’s children. We have received this gift of being His adopted children on account of His grace. In this manner, St Paul speaks about ‘baptism’ to enable us to comprehend our new status due to grace; and to encourage us to struggle through life as God’s children. This is the service of the Church: to affirm to believers, like a mother towards her children, God’s free gift of grace which should motivate us to struggle earnestly and constantly. She needs to remind them of their new status granted through baptism- and the power of resurrection- so that they can live the years of their estrangement on earth as God’s children who constantly struggle. 140 St John Chrysostom 1 states that baptism has killed sin in us. In order for it to remain dead, we need to struggle constantly. In this manner, we would never surrender to sin and we would oppose it as rigidly as death. What does the Apostle mean by the words ‘baptized into his death’? He means our dying just as he has died. Baptism is the Cross. What the Cross and burial did for the Lord Jesus Christ, baptism does for us even though the analogy is not perfect. He has died and has been physically buried; but we practice both (death and burial) as we confront sin. The Apostle does not say ‘united with Him in His death’; but he says: “united together in the likeness of His death”, (v5). It is death in both instances, but the object of death differs: Christ died in the flesh; while we die to sin which we commit and bring upon ourselves. St John Chrysostom2 To give is more better than to take; It is clear that when a person is baptized, the Son of God becomes crucified within him. Our body would have been unable to chase out sin had it not been crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ. St Ambrose3 Let us get buried with the Lord Jesus Christ through baptism, so that we may be resurrected with Him! Let us descend with Him so that we also may ascend with Him! Let us ascend with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him! St Gregory, Bishop of Nizanzy4 Now that we have emulated His death, the sin within has certainly become a dead corpse wounded by the sword of baptism, just as Phinehas- the zealous- killed the adulterer with his javelin, (Numbers 25:6- 15).. St Gregory, Bishop of Niceus5 The following points are noteworthy in the Apostle’s discourse on baptism: First: The Apostle associates the Cross with burial and with the resurrection, or between dying with the Lord Jesus Christ and living with Him through the power of the resurrection. Baptism is considered a burial, but it is-at the same time- a resurrection. That is why we comprehend that the path of the Lord is a tough one, but it is –at the same time-a joyful one. It is a walk with the Lord that brings pain as well as resurrection. The joy of the resurrection is not a mere futuristic vision for it is a reality that we actually experience in our daily lives. St John Chrysostom says: [The Apostle here hints at our obligation to be particular in our conduct and ties it with the subject of the resurrection…we may paraphrase his words as follows: …Do you believe that the Lord has died and is risen? Believe that too about yourself. The resurrection, like the crucifixion and burial, are relevant to yourself: if you partake of the death and burial, then you are entitled to the resurrection and life. Concerning sin, which is a more difficult issue, it has been 1 In Rom. hom 10 2 Ibid 3 Conc. Repent. 2:3 (9) 4 Oration of Holy Baptism 9 5 On Baptism of Christ 141 demolished and therefore death, which is a lesser issue, has been torn away definitely (therefore you are granted life)…Now that He has granted us resurrection, He requests us to make another change and that is to change (to renew) our habits and ways here on earth ( as they reveal a living and active resurrection from within). Now when the adulterer becomes chaste, the greedy becomes merciful, and the violent becomes submissive; then the resurrection is effective here on earth and is a warranty for the other resurrection. How is this considered a resurrection? It is so because sin dies and righteousness arises, the old man has been crucified and the new angelic one lives1]. St John Chrysostom continues his discourse on dying with the Lord Jesus Christ, and rising up with Him through the font of baptism by underling our positive role as ‘faithful’ ones. The Lord has granted us to die with Him in baptism so as to provide us with the potential of being righteous and persevering in the faith all the days of our estrangement on earth. Our struggle should be continuous to ensure that we do not lose the grace of baptism and its fruit in us…in other words, so that we do not lose the joy of dying with our Lord Jesus Christ. St John Chrysostom says : [The Apostle speaks about two kinds of faithfulness and death: the first one is the action of the Lord (in us) through baptism, and the second is our fervent practice after baptism. He has granted us the burial of all our past sins; but it is up to us to maintain this gift and remain dead to sin- after baptism- and we will find God Himself supporting us in this struggle. Indeed, the power of baptism does not end at erasing our past sins, but it grants us protection against future rebellion. Regarding past sins, we participate with our faith so that they might be erased. The same applies to future sins, when we need to demonstrate our intention to change and confirm that we will not sin and be unclean again. This is what the Apostle is speaking about in these words: “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection”. (v5). Do you notice how St Paul arouses his hearers in order to lead them to his Lord, and how he suffers untold pain in order to become in His likeness?! This explains why St Paul does not say: ‘United us with Him in His death’, so that you would not oppose him; but he says: ‘In the likeness of His death’. Our essence does not die, but the ‘sinful man’ or ‘evil’ is the object which dies. “If we have been united together” refers to our being planted in Him and the resulting fruit is that ‘certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection’. Just as the burial of the Lord’s body in the earth has granted the world the fruit of salvation, the same applies to us as we are buried in the baptismal font. We receive the gift and fruits of righteousness, sanctification, adoption, and endless blessings. Besides, we look forward to the promised gift of the resurrection. We have been buried in the baptismal waters, while He was buried in the earth. We have been buried away from sin, while He was buried in terms of the flesh. That is why the Apostle does not use the words: ‘United us with Him in His death’, but he uses the words ‘the likeness of His death’ …and the focus is on the ‘resurrection’ itself…note that the Apostle does not say ‘…in the likeness of His resurrection’; but … ‘we become like Him resurrected’2]. 1 In Rom. hom 10 2 In Rom. hom 11 142 Second: The object of baptism is that when we are crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ, we are granted the joy of the new resurrected life. Consequently, we live on earth with an uplifted heavenly mind and with the joy of the promise of an eternal inheritance. The Gnostic individual (who possesses true spiritual knowledge) will not have his principle goal in this (temporal) life, for he will always adhere to the royal God who always blesses him with gladness and countless gifts. St Clement of Alexandria1 Those baptized receive the inheritance for they are baptized by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, are buried with Him, to arise with Him. Therefore they are heirs of God and joint heirs with the Lord (Romans 8:17). They are heirs of God as the grace of the Lord is granted to them, and they are joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ because they are united together in His life. They are also joint heirs because He has granted them the inheritance by His death in the same manner in which heirs are named in a will. St Ambrose2 Third: To confirm the fact of the resurrection, the Apostle focuses on the ‘resurrection’ itself. He reveals that the warranty of the forthcoming resurrection is granted in our present temporal life. He states: “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him”. (v 6-8). Here on earth, we die to sin and therefore live in righteousness…this is the first resurrection which the Apostle calls “newness of life” (v 4), as well as the warranty of the final resurrection. “The body of sin” that is annulled refers to the evil and sin of man which he has embraced and so has died spiritually…however, through baptism, the old man dies with this body- that is with these sins-in order to live the resurrection as a powerful and new life marked by a new mind and a new song of praise. St Jerome writes the following: [Even the song we sing is new (Rev 14:3), for we put off the old man (Eph 4:22), and we are no longer bound by the letter but by the newness of the Spirit (Rom 7:6)…Time limits a writer in his attempt to present all the words in the holy books concerning the efficiency of baptism, or to explain the mysteries related to this new birth which is the second birth. However, baptism is considered the first birth in the Lord Jesus Christ3]. Many holy fathers have attempted to confirm that what dies in the baptismal font is not ‘the body’ but the ‘body of sin’. They reveal the error of some Gnostic thought that considers the flesh (the body) as an element of darkness that should be discarded and resisted. We believe that God has not created in us any element of darkness or evil; and that the body with its feelings, emotions, and potentials are created by a good God. It is we who have corrupted the body by distorting the feelings and emotions into the path of passionate lusts and impurity, and away from their goal which is love. Accordingly, the Scholar Tertullian, in his article entitled ‘The Resurrection of the Body’ writes the following: [The body does not oppose salvation but it is the (devious) acts of the body. 1 Strom 4 :7 2 Ep.63:11 3 Ep. 69:7 143 When these acts that cause death are torn away, the body becomes secure and free of every cause of death1]. He goes on to elaborate extensively2 to underline that what has been crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ is not the frame of the body or its actual existence, but it is the moral conduct (or the corrupted nature and the feelings of sin that have seized it). He supports this by quoting the words of the Apostle who uses the words ‘that we should no longer be slaves of sin’ rather than ‘slaves of the body’,(v 6). He also says ‘reckon yourselves dead indeed to sin’ rather than ‘dead to the body’, (v 11). We have also dealt with this topic previously in the introduction to the book entitled ‘Chastity’ by St Augustine, which has been translated and published from Arabic into English. Fourth: If we accept to remain in a state of ‘death to sin’, what is the reward? ‘Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him’, (v 8). St John Chrysostom writes that while the Apostle asks us to play the hero’s role of dying to sin and becoming as one fallen motionless and stiff in its sphere of influence; he also asks us not to distort God’s gift which has been granted to us through baptism besides the ultimate crown to ‘live with the Lord Jesus Christ’. St Paul uses these words to affirm that ‘we shall also live with Him’. [Indeed, even before receiving the crown, having fellowship with our Lord is in itself the greatest crown3]. Fifth: St Paul fears that the believer would find this path burdensome: ‘death with the Lord Jesus Christ’; especially since we are required to struggle from the moment we have been buried with Him through baptism and throughout the days of our estrangement. Therefore, he clarifies two points: first, that this death is ‘with the Lord’ who accompanies us on the road. As the Lord is Himself the life and the resurrection, death cannot destroy us. The second point the Apostle makes is that the Lord died once for our sins and He arose, therefore He will not die another time. In this manner, the Lord grants us the power of the resurrection and the victory over sin. As a result, our death to sin does not constitute a deprivation or loss. Rather it constitutes the practice of the power of conquest and victory which we have acquired through our Lord who is the Conqueror of sin and death. This is the meaning of the Apostle’s words in these verses: “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”. (V 9 -11). The Apostle affirms that the Lord Jesus Christ did not die as a result of an inherent disease in Him. He died due to ‘the sin’, and in order to strike out and demolish our own sins. Consequently, sin no longer possesses dominion over us. This is valid as long as we are united with Him. It is true that sin is extremely bad and violent; and because of it the Lord died once on our behalf. However, by His death, He has destroyed the dominion of sin, and we no longer fear as we walk with Him along that path. The Lord Jesus Christ has died once only, and this can never be repeated again. He did not die due to weakness, but due to the power of sacrificial love. Since He will not die a second time, He grants us – as we participate with Him in His death- to participate in His resurrection which death can never conquer. 1 On Ressur. Of the Flesh 46 2 Ibid 47 3 In Rom. hom 11 144 This is the grace of God; and this is the way of God in correcting mankind: He has suffered in order to liberate those who suffer in Him, He descended in order to raise us up, He accepted to become incarnated so that we might love the One who is not (born as a normal being), He descended where death is found in order to grant us immortality, He became weak for our sakes so that we may be granted power… Finally, He became a human being so that we may arise once more. Death has no longer dominion over us; even though we die as human beings. The words of the Apostle proclaims: “Death has no power over us now” (refer to v 9,14). Pope Athanasius the Apostolic1 The Apostle underlines that the Lord Jesus Christ has died once to sin. Therefore, in the mystery of the Holy Eucharist, as we receive the Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified once on the Cross: we accept that same action of the Cross- which is not repeated- but which extends and is active throughout the life of the Church. This is the mystery of Her victory over sin and death; and it will continue to be Her constant song of praise even in eternal life. The Lord Jesus Christ died once to sin. He has offered the sacrifice of love in our name. This is what He yearns to offer in the life of His people and ministers.. St Ambrose2 recounts the story of the Lord’s meeting with St Peter at the gates of Rome. He was leaving under the insistence of believers who wanted him to escape martyrdom. But St Peter had a vision of the Lord carrying His Cross. Therefore he knew that the Lord wanted to be crucified in the person of His minister and servant. Due to that, St Peter returned to Rome and surrendered to death for the sake of the Lord. In this manner, the Lord was glorified in the crucifixion of St Peter. Sixth: Since the Lord Jesus Christ has died to ‘sin’ so that it no longer has dominion over us, then it is only appropriate that we surrender our hearts to be His throne after all the years when sin had reigned over it. Let us die to sin so that it no longer reigns over- us; and let us live for God through our Lord Jesus Christ who reigns within us and establishes His kingdom within our hearts. Let us offer all the members of our bodies, all our potentials, and all our emotions to serve His kingdom. Let them be instruments of the righteousness of God after they had been subjected to passions and were used as instruments of evil and sin. This is what St Paul the Apostle intends in his words: “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (v 11-14). The Apostle clarifies that the Lord Jesus Christ grants us the power to die to sin, and to live as God’s children. It is He who demolishes evil passions and not the body in itself. He transforms the members of the body from instruments of sin into instruments of divine righteousness. Consequently, it is vital that He- not sin- reigns within us. 1 Pascal Ep. 10:8 2 Ser against Auxentius 13 145 St John Chrysostom considers the words of the Apostle “do not let sin reign” (Rom6: 12)to be a proclamation that sin has enslaved mankind and seeks, by it force and might, to control people…That is why those who return and sin- after having enjoyed the grace of the Lord- are like those who have thrown away the crown on their heads in order to bend their necks in submission to a mad and violent queen in tattered clothes. His words ‘in your mortal body’ reveal the Apostle’s intention to indicate that the struggle is temporary, and does have an end, as it is associated with our temporal body. Below are excerpts taken from writings of the holy fathers concerning the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ within us, and the reign of sin over us: ‘No one would dare say ‘my King and my Lord’-(Psalm 5:1)-unless sin has no dominion over his mortal body… You reign in me, but sin does not reign, for You are my God! You are my God, for my insides are not a god, neither is gold nor passion! You are virtue, I desire to possess you! You are my God, You are my virtue! St Jerome 1 It is a generous gift and great honor for man to be a slave to God and not to sin. ‘The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord’, Prov.21:1 Let us be kings, and control our bodies (away from sin), and subjugate them; so that our hearts are committed into the hands of God. St Jerome2 This is our present task: as long as our lives are temporary and uncertain, let us not allow sin or the passion of sin to dominate our mortal bodies. Indeed, if we submit to the passions of sin, it will reign over us. The desire to sin is within us, yet we do not allow it to reign over us. By not allowing it to usurp our members, we allow virtue to demand them as her entitlement. In this manner, our members become instruments of God’s righteousness and not instruments of sin. Sin does not dominate us for we are not subject to the Law which commands us to do what is good without granting goodness to us. By being subject to grace, we get to love what the Law commands us to do; and grace is able to dominate over the (will). As long as sin is basically present in your members, do not allow it to have dominion over you. You need to expel it and not conform to its demands. Does anger get stirred within you? Do not yield your tongue to utter an evil word; and do not submit your hand or foot to be used to strike. It would have been impossible for unreasoning anger to stir within you if there was no sin in your members. Yet dispel its controlling power, so that it would have no instruments with which to fight you. Sin will then learn not to rage within you, for it will find itself without weapons… That is how everyone seeking to be perfect needs to struggle. When lust finds no response from the members, it diminishes gradually, day by day, in its journey. St Augustine1 1 On Ps. Hom 5 2 Ibid 40,55 146 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts”, (v12)... The Apostle does not say: ‘do not allow it to be there’ because it is actually there. Sin will fight you as long as you have a body that is prone to death. However, may you never allow it to dominate you…in other words, cut off its passions; for if you begin to obey it, it will dominate you. What does the word ‘obey’ convey? It conveys subjugating your members as evil instruments of sin. St Augustine2 Seventh: Once more, the Apostle underlines that the call to die with the Lord Jesus Christ does not mean destroying the body but it means sanctifying it. We have noted in the discourse on baptism that the old man is crucified (v 6) in order to demolish the body of sin and not to demolish the members of the body themselves. Now, as St Paul speaks about the need to struggle after baptism, he indicates that we are enabled to do so through the blessings of baptism- that is through ‘the action of grace’ within us. He underlines that the call to die is not a negative one denoting loss and destruction. It is a positive invitation to win. Death here is a profit, for it involves living with the crucified Lord Jesus Christ who arose from the dead. He is able to destroy the members of the body working as evil instruments of sin and resurrecting them as instruments of divine righteousness. He grants them His own sanctification. The Apostle says: “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God”, (v13). It is amazing that the Apostle asks us to present ourselves to God ‘as being alive from the dead’ before asking us to present our members as instruments of righteousness to God. This indicates that our physical members will not be sanctified unless our whole being is sanctified; and unless we accept the resurrection to work actively in our hearts as well as in our minds and bodies … The same body members, which we are accustomed to use for sin and by which we gather the fruit of death, God desires us to use to submit to righteousness and so produce fruits of life. St Irinaous3 St Gregory of Nicea considers that when a person becomes wholly sanctified, especially within his heart, his physical members become transformed from instruments of evil into instruments that glorify God. Indeed, the heart becomes like the heart of the woman who found the lost coin (Lk 15), and invited her neighbors to celebrate and share her joy for finding it. The physical members are similar to these neighbors as we invite them to practically participate in our joy in receiving the Lord’s salvation! Eighth: St Paul closes his discourse on the effect of baptism coupled with spiritual struggle in these words: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace”. (v 14). He closes by underlining the new potentials we have been granted through grace. Grace and the potentials that we have received in the 1 On Continence 8; In Ioan .tr . 41:12 2 Ser on N.T. 78:8,12 3 Adv. Haer 5:14:4 147 baptismal water continue to work as we struggle daily, enabling us to overcome and to conquer. 2- Freedom through the Lord Jesus Christ: St Paul leads us to focus our eyes on baptism when we become children of God. We practice this adoption as we die with the Lord Jesus Christ and as we live with Him throughout our days of estrangement on earth. His aim throughout is to correct an erroneous understanding that had settled in the minds of the Jews as they had believed that they were free just because they were physical descendants of Abraham. This belief is revealed in their exchange with the Lord when He proclaimed: "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," (Jn 8:31, 32). And they answered Him: "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed”, (Jn 8: 33-36). Note the following points that St Paul makes in his discourse on the freedom we have received through the Lord Jesus Christ: First: The Apostle uses encouragement to drive his theme as he says: “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (v 17,18). St John Chrysostom comments on the Apostle’s style by stating that St Paul seeks to instill confidence in his audience after having disturbed them with feelings of shame and terrified them with the penalties. St Paul indicates that they have actually been liberated from many evils through the gift of divine grace. Therefore they need to offer thanks to God for this gift. In other words, the Apostle invites everyone to be liberated while he calls all to practice life under grace which would grow and glow in us progressively. Second: His words’…you obeyed from the heart’ are a reference to the freedom we practice and which is not achieved by power or obligation. Indeed, it is practiced through love, from the ‘heart’, and with our full willingness…for freedom in the Lord is slavery to righteousness (v 18). Yet it is the voluntary slavery of love and is not a slavery promoted by violent subjugation. It is a slavery rooted in maturity and commitment rather than negligence and wavering! A Christian should not say ‘I am free’ and ‘I can do whatever I like…no one can bind me as long as I am free’. If enjoying this freedom leads you to commit sin, then you are a slave to sin. Do not damage your freedom by feeling free to sin; but use it by not committing sin, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Gal 5:13) 1. St Augustine Third: What is the form of teaching that we have received and need to obey with all our heart? “having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness…” that is, abandoning the condition of harsh slavery to which sin has subjugated us and moving into the condition of slavery to righteousness that fills our hearts with inner joy. 1 In Ioan tr 41:8 148 Fourth: “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh” (v 19). St John Chrysosotm writes that the Apostle talks to his audience as a person who shares with them the same conditions. He does not consider that he is better than the crowds, or that he is speaking about something terribly hard. He advises them as a person who shares the same nature as their own, and who has had practical experience in that he had used his body members for evil purposes. At the time of his speech, he declares that his members have been liberated and have become members that worship righteousness. Fifth: The Apostle draws a comparison between slavery to evil and slavery to righteousness. He finds that the first is harsh and shameful as he states: “of which you are now ashamed”(v 21), and ‘the end of those things is death’, (v 21). The second kind of slavery is contrary to the first as it grants sanctification and it ends in eternal life (v 21). Therefore while the first produces the fruits of shame and death, the second produces the fruits of sanctification and eternal life. Abba Moussa considers that the second kind of slavery consists of two levels: the ultimate goal is eternal life, while the present one is ‘holiness’ which involves ‘purity of heart’ without which we cannot enjoy eternal life1. Sixth: St Paul speaks about ‘eternal life’ (v 24) as a free gift of grace. St Augustine wonders: How can ‘eternal life’ be a reward for good works, (Matt 16:27), while it is at the same time a free gift of grace? He provides a lengthy answer in his book entitled ‘Grace and Free Will’2. Following are some excerpts taken from his book: [It seems impossible to provide a complete solution to this question unless we understand that even good works, for which we are rewarded in eternal life, are the result of God’s grace. Is not this what the Lord was referring to when He said: ‘…for without Me you can do nothing’, (Jn 15:5)?! The Apostle states in (Ephesians 2:8-10) ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast’. He then realizes that people could interpret this to mean that good works are not important and that believers could be satisfied with just accepting the faith. At the same time, he recognizes that there are those who are boastful and who believe they could achieve good works through their own endeavors. Therefore he seeks to harmonize these two aspects by going on to state: ‘For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them’… Listen and comprehend that the words: “not of works” refer to works that you believe you are the sole source for them; and to consider and remember the works that God has formed within you. He says about these: ‘For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them’… In any case, eternal life is granted in this manner (as a reward for good works) because God does good works in good people of whom it is written: ‘…working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight’; and this echoes the words of the Psalmist: ‘Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies’, (Ps 103: 4). It is through His mercy that we do good works and consequently receive the crowns]. 1 Cassian:Conf 1:5 2 P 38-42, pub 1969
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