Interpretation of Isaiah 63.12. The right hand of God and the Lordly Man [226–230]
Part V: Scriptural Testimonies [132–230]
1. John the Evangelist: John 14.26 [132–145]
The Spirit sent in the name of the Son is the Spirit of the Son [132–139]
132. This line of inquiry finds its point of departure in the passage: But when the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, comes, he will teach you all things [Jn 14.26]. And so, come, let us now seek from this text points of agreement with our earlier discussion. 133. The Savior affirms that the Father sends the Holy Spirit in his name. Now, properly speaking, the name of the Savior is “Son,” because this name indicates the sharing of nature and (so to speak) what is proper to the persons. Since the Father sends the Holy Spirit in the name of the Son, one should not understand him as a servant, as foreign to, or as cut off from the Son.
134. In addition, just as the Son comes in the name of the Father, saying: I have come in the name of my Father [Jn 5.43]—after all, it belongs only to the Son to come in the name of the Father without violating what is proper to Son vis-à-vis the Father and what is proper to the Father vis-à-vis the Son—so too, inversely, no one else comes in the name of the Father, but rather, for example, in the name of the Lord and in the name of Almighty God. You will be able to see this point more clearly by re-reading the Prophets.
135. For instance, Moses, the great minister and servant of God, came in the name of “He Who Is” and in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God said to him: Say this to the sons of Israel: “He Who Is” sent me to you [Ex 3.4]. And again: Say to them: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sent me to you [Ex 3.15]. 136. Another example: when he said the following passage about his righteous servants: I will command to my servants the prophets by my Spirit [Zech 1.6], this sending was given in the name of God. Since they proved themselves worthy of God, they are said to have come in the name of God. Again, since they progressed to better things and stood under the authority of the one God, they came in the name of Almighty God. 137. In addition, when the sons of Israel were sojourning in Egypt, they learned to worship as gods those who are not and to venerate the fathers of this world with divine honors. Accordingly, Moses was sent to them under the name of “He Who Is.” He liberated them from false gods and brought them over to true deity, to the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
138. And so, just as servants who have come in the name of the Lord point toward the Lord and communicate what is proper to him because they are subject to and serve him—for they are servants, after all, of the Lord—so too, the Son who comes in the name of the Father communicates what is proper to the Father and his name. These supply the proof that he is the only-begotten Son of God. 139. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father in the name of the Son, and has what is proper to the Son insofar as he is God, but does not have sonship such that he is God’s son. This shows that he is joined to the Son in unity. For this reason, he is also called the Spirit of the Son, and by adoption makes sons of those who wanted to receive him: For since you are sons of God, the Father has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” [Gal 4.6; cf. Rom 8.14–16].
The Spirit teaches all things [140–143]
140. The Holy Spirit himself, who has been sent by the Father and comes in the name of the Son, will teach all things to those who are perfect in the faith of Christ, (that is, all things which are spiritual and intelligible)—in sum, the mysteries of truth and wisdom. 141. But he will not teach as an instructor or teacher of a discipline which has been learned from another. For this method pertains to those who learn wisdom and the other arts by means of study and diligence. Rather, as he himself is the art, the teaching, the wisdom, and the Spirit of Truth, he invisibly imparts knowledge of divine things to the mind.
In fact, the Father also teaches his disciples in this way, as one of those taught by him says: God, you have taught me wisdom [Dan 2.23]. And another boldly cries out: You have taught me, God, from my youth [Ps 70.17]. In this way all of them have been taught. 142. In addition, the Son of God, who is the Truth and the Wisdom of God, teaches those who participate in him in such a way that his instruction is imparted, not by some method, but in virtue of who he is by nature. It is for this reason that his disciples are taught to call him alone “teacher.”
And so, those same teachings that the Father and the Son give to the hearts of believers, the Spirit provides to those who have stopped living like animals. For the one living like an animal does not receive what belongs to the Spirit, thinking that what the Spirit says is foolishness [1 Cor 2.14]. But whoever cleanses his mind of disturbance is filled with the teachings of the Holy Spirit (that is, with words of wisdom and knowledge), to such an extent that he who has received them says: But God has revealed these things to us through the Holy Spirit [1 Cor 2.10].
143. God bestows the Spirit of Wisdom and revelation on those who have prepared themselves in this way in order that they may know him. Those who receive the Spirit of Wisdom are made wise not from another but from the Holy Spirit, and because of him they come to understand the Lord and what pertains to the will of God. When he reveals himself, they also recognize this same Spirit such that they know what the Lord has given them. Just as the one who has obtained the Spirit of revelation and wisdom is able to preach the doctrines of truth by relying not upon human skill but upon the skill of God, so too we can hear one of them, the Apostle, saying: And my word and my preaching are not with persuasive words of human wisdom but with the demonstration of the Spirit and the power of God [1 Cor 2.4].
The Holy Spirit creates like the Father and the Son [144–145]
144. It is true that we cannot interpret the power which is equal to the Spirit as another besides Christ the Lord. For he himself said to his disciples: For you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit when he comes upon you [Act 1.8]. And the archangel said to Mary: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [Luke 1.35]. Therefore, when the Holy Spirit came upon the virgin Mary, the creating power of the Most High fashioned the body of Christ: using it as a temple, he was born without the seed of a man.
145. All this shows that the Holy Spirit is the Creator, as we have already shown briefly in our volume On Doctrines. And in the psalm it is said to the Lord: You take back from them your Spirit, and they die and they return to the earth. You send forth your Spirit, and they are created, and you renew the face of the earth [Ps 103.29–30]. Nor it is particularly astonishing if the Holy Spirit is the maker of the Lord’s body, since along with the Father and the Son he creates all things which the Father and the Son create: Send forth your Spirit, and they are created [Ps 130.30]. Furthermore, we have already demonstrated at length that the Holy Spirit’s activity is the same as that of the Father and the Son, and that a single substance is implied by the same activity, and, vice versa, that those who are ὁμοούσια [the same in substance] do not have an activity that is diverse.
2. John the Evangelist: John 16.12–15 [146–174]
146. Let us now cite yet another passage which can aid our faith in the Holy Spirit. Here is a text written in the Gospel:
12I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13But when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the whole Truth. For he will not speak on his own accord, but whatever he hears he will speak, and the things that are to come he will announce to you. 14He will glorify me since he will receive from what is mine and announce it to you. 15All that the Father has is mine. It is for this reason that I have said to you that he will receive from what is mine and announce it to you [Jn 16.12–15].
Interpretation of John 16.12–13a: the Spirit guides to the Truth [147–152]
147. These words of mystery teach us that, after Jesus had taught his disciples many things, he said: I still have many things to say to you [Jn 16.12a]. The phrase I still have many things to say to you is not directed to novices or those totally ignorant of the wisdom of God, but to hearers of his words who have not yet attained all things. 148. For he handed on to them whatever they could bear and deferred for a future time the rest which they would not be able to understand without the teaching of the Holy Spirit.
Now the Holy Spirit was not given to humanity before the Lord’s passion took place, as the Evangelist says: For the Spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified [Jn 7.39]; being “glorified” here means that Jesus tastes death for all [Heb 2.9]. And so, after the resurrection he appeared to his disciples, breathed on their face, and said: Receive the Holy Spirit [Jn 20.22]. And again: You will receive the power of the Holy Spirit when he comes upon you [Acts 1.8]. 149. When the Holy Spirit comes into the hearts of believers, they are filled with words of wisdom and knowledge. When they are made spiritual in this way, they receive the teaching of the Holy Spirit which can guide them toward the whole Truth.
150. Therefore, since it was still not appropriate for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit at the time when he said to them: I still have many things to say to you [Jn 16.12a], accordingly he added: but you cannot bear them now [Jn 16.12b]. Because they were still serving a shadow and copies [Heb 8.5] and a type of the law, they were not able to look upon the truth, whose shadow the law conveyed [Heb 10.1]. It is for this reason that they were unable to bear the weight of spiritual things. When he comes—that is, the Paraclete—the Spirit of Truth will guide you into the whole Truth [Jn 16.13a], through his own teaching and instruction conveying you from the death of the letter to the Spirit that gives life [cf. 2 Cor 3.6]. In him alone resides all the truth of Scripture.
151. And so, when the Spirit of Truth himself enters into a pure and simple mind, he will impress upon you the knowledge of truth; since he always joins the new to the old, he will guide you into all truth. 152. Moreover, someone praying to God the Father said: Guide me in your Truth [Ps 25.5], meaning “in your Only-Begotten.” He bears witness to this with his own voice: I am the Truth [Jn 14.6]. God grants this perfection by sending the Spirit of Truth who guides believers into the whole Truth.
Jn 16.13b: Divine speech [153–162]
153. Next, in what follows, the Savior, who is also the Truth, speaks about the Spirit of Truth who is sent by the Father and is the Paraclete: For he will not speak on his own accord [Jn 16.13b]. By this he means “not without me and not without my and the Father’s authority, seeing that he is inseparable from my and the Father’s will because he is not from himself but from the Father and me. For his very being and speaking belongs to him from the Father and from me. As for me, I speak the truth, by which I mean that I inspire what he speaks, for he is the Spirit, after all, of Truth.”
154. Now when we say that there is “saying and speaking” within the Trinity, we should not understand this as taking place in the manner to which we are accustomed when we converse and speak among ourselves in turn, but in the way that conforms with incorporeal natures and especially with the Trinity, who instills his will in the heart of believers and those worthy of hearing it. This is what “saying and speaking” means.
155. When we human beings speak to one another about something, we first conceive what we want to say in our mind without speech. Then when we want to convey it into the mind of another, we set the tongue in motion as an instrument, and by striking it like a kind of plectrum on the strings of the teeth, we emit an articulate sound. So then, just as we control how we strike our tongue on the palate and the teeth and modulate how we force our air into various utterances in order to communicate to others what we have in mind, so too it is necessary for the listener to offer open ears uninhibited by any impediment and to turn them to what is being said in order for him to be able to know what is being expressed just as the one who is speaking knows them.
156. But, God, who is simple and of a nature that is incomposite and unique, possesses neither ears nor organs with which he emits a voice. Rather, his solitary and incomprehensible substance is not composed of any members or parts. The very same point should be understood likewise with regard to the Son and the Holy Spirit. 157. Therefore, when we read in Scripture: The Lord said to my Lord [Ps 109.2], and elsewhere: God said: “Let there be light!” [Gen 1.3], and things similar to these, we ought to understand them in a way worthy of God.
158. Nor does the Father announce his will to the Son, who is Wisdom and Truth, as if he does not already know it. For the Son, who is wise and true, has in wisdom and in substance everything that the Father speaks. Therefore, when Father speaks and the Son hears, or vice versa, when the Son speaks and the Father hears, it indicates that in the Father and the Son there is the same nature and agreement. 159. Nor is it possible for the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Wisdom, to hear what he does not know when the Son speaks, since he is the very thing expressed by the Son.
160. Next, so that no one separates the Holy Spirit from the will and fellowship of the Father and the Son, it is written: For he will not speak on his own accord, but he will speak as he hears [Jn 16.13]. The Savior said something similar to this about himself: As I hear, so I judge [Jn 5.30]. And elsewhere: The Son is not able to do anything on his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing [Jn 5.19]. 161. For if the Son of the Father is one, not according to the error of Sabellius who confuses the Father and the Son, but according to their inseparability of essence or substance, then he is unable to do anything without the Father. The works of separate individuals are distinct, but when the Son sees the Father working, he is himself also working, yet working not in a second rank and after him. After all, the works of the Son would begin to diverge from those of the Father if they were not performed by equals.
162. In addition, it is written: For whatever he does—no doubt meaning the Father—the Son does these same things likewise [Jn 5.19]. When the Father and the Son work, if they do not work in order as a second after a first but simultaneously, then all the things which they do are the same and not dissimilar, and the Son is unable to do anything on his own accord since he cannot be separated from the Father. Likewise, the Holy Spirit, who is in no way separated from the Son on account of their sharing of will and nature, is not believed to speak on his own accord, but speaks all that he speaks according to the Word and Truth of God.
Interpretation of John 16.14: how the Spirit “receives” the Son [163–169]
163. The following words of the Lord confirm this opinion: He will glorify me—that is, the Paraclete—because he will receive from what is mine [Jn 16.14]. Again, “receive” here ought to be understood in a way that is appropriate to divine nature. 164. For just as, when the Son gives, he is not deprived of those things which he gives and does not share with others to his own detriment, so too the Spirit does not receive what he did not have before. If he receives what he did not have earlier, then when the gift is transferred to another, its bestower is left empty-handed, ceasing to have what he gave.
165. Therefore, just as we understood the natures of incorporeals in our discussion above, so too we now ought to acknowledge that the Holy Spirit receives from the Son that which belongs to his own nature. This does not signify that there is a giver and a receiver, but one substance, since the Son is said to receive the same things from the Father which belong to his very being. For the Son is nothing other than those things which are given to him by the Father, and the substance of the Holy Spirit is nothing other than that which is given to him by the Son. 166. These statements are made for this reason: so that we may believe that in the Trinity the nature of the Holy Spirit is the same as that of the Father and the Son.
167. Now every human term can indicate nothing other than corporeal things, and the Trinity (the subject of our present discussion) is beyond all material substances. For these reasons, no word can be applied to him in the proper sense and thereby signify his substance. Rather, when we speak about incorporeals in general and especially about the Trinity, every thing we say is said καταχρηστικῶς, that is, in an improper sense.
168. And so, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son by showing him and manifesting him to the pure in heart who are worthy of understanding him, seeing him, and knowing the Splendor of his substance and the Image of the invisible God [Col 1.15]. The Image himself glorifies the Father in turn, by showing himself to pure minds, thereby introducing him to those who do not know him: He who sees me sees the Father [Jn 14.9]. 169. In addition, the Father glorifies his Only-Begotten by revealing the Son to those who have merited to attain the summit of knowledge, showing his magnificence and power. Furthermore, the Son himself glorifies the Holy Spirit by bestowing him on those who have prepared themselves to be worthy of his gift and by distributing to them the sublimity of his glorification and greatness.
Interpretation of John 16.15: the mutual possessions of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit [170–173]
170. Next he explains the manner in which he said: he will receive from what is mine, by immediately adding: all things which the Father has are mine; for this reason I said, “from what is mine he will receive and will announce to you.” [Jn 16.15]. It is as if he said: “Although the Spirit of Truth proceeds from the Father [Jn 15.26] and God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him [Lk 11.13], nonetheless since all things which the Father has are mine, even the very Spirit of the Father is mine and he will receive from what is mine.”
171. Now when such things are said be careful not to slip into the error of a depraved understanding and think that the Father and the Son hold some object or possession. Rather, that which the Father has substantially, that is, eternity, immutability, incorruptibility, immutable goodness subsisting of and in itself—these same things the Son has as well. In addition, whatever the Son himself is and whatever belongs to the Son, these same things the Father has as well.
172. Let the snares of the dialecticians be far from here! Banish from the truth those sophisms of theirs that seize an opportunity for impiety from pious preaching and say: “Therefore, the Father is the Son and the Son is the Father.” For if he had said: “All things whatsoever God has are mine,” then impiety would have an opportunity for fabrication and such a lie would seem to be plausible. But since he said: All that the Father has is mine [Jn 16.15], by using the name of “Father” he declared himself to be the Son. He who is his Son does not usurp his paternity, even if the Son himself is also the father of many saints through the grace of adoption, according to that passage in the psalms where it is read: If your sons keep . . . [Ps 131.12], and again: If his sons forsake my law . . . [Ps 88.31].
173. From this text and in the sense already established, it follows that the Son also possesses what belongs to the Father (we mentioned above what those things are), and that the Holy Spirit also possesses what belongs to the Son. For he said: From what is mine he will receive, for this reason he will announce to you what is to come [Jn 16.13]. Indeed, certain knowledge of future events is granted to holy men through the Spirit of Truth. This is why the Prophets, filled with this same Spirit, used to foretell in oracles events to come and gazed upon them as if they were already present.
Conclusion to the interpretation of John 16.12–15 [174]
174. This discussion of the present chapter of the Gospel should suffice and more than suffice, given the poverty of our talent. But if the Lord has accorded a revelation to certain others, drawing them close to the Truth and making them more capable of discerning the Truth, then we concede that their account is better since he who is the Spirit of Truth gives it support. Furthermore, we ask those who will read this to forgive our lack of expertise and pardon the eagerness of someone who desires to offer all that he can to God, even if he was unable to accomplish his plan.
3. The Apostle Paul: Romans 8.4–17 [175–196]
175. Now it is time to present the testimony of the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Romans and indicate how we think it pertains to our present subject:
176. 4So that the requirement of the law may be fulfilled in you, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who are according to the flesh are wise about the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit are wise about the things of the Spirit. 6After all, the wisdom of the flesh is death, but the wisdom of the Spirit is life and peace. 7For the wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God; after all, it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it. 8But those who are in the flesh cannot be pleasing to God. 177. 9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, although your body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will give life even to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 12Therefore, brothers, we are not in debt to the flesh such that we have to live according to the flesh. 13For if you live according to the flesh, then you will die, but if you mortify the deeds of the body by the Spirit, then you will live. 178. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading you back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adopted sonship through whom we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16For the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. 17And if children, then heirs, indeed heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified together with him [Rom 8.4–17].
179. This chapter of the Apostle has much to say about the fellowship that the Spirit has with the Father and the Son.
Interpretation of Romans 8.4–8: Living according to the Spirit [180–183]
180. The Apostle says that the requirement of the divine and spiritual law is fulfilled by those who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit [Rom 8.4]. The Apostle’s text describes the person who walks according to the flesh: it is someone who is united to the body through the pleasures and the vices of the flesh and therefore does all the deeds that belong to the flesh and to the body. But the person who walks according to the Spirit is someone who advances in the precepts of the Gospel and therefore follows the prescriptions of the spiritual commandments. As a matter of fact, just as it is the vice of fleshly people to be wise in the matters of the flesh and to think about the concerns of the body, so too, inversely, it is always the virtue of spiritual persons to occupy themselves with heavenly realities, eternal matters, and the concerns of the Spirit.
181. The wisdom of the flesh is directly linked with death and kills those who advance and are wise according to the flesh, but the wisdom of the Spirit bestows tranquility of mind, peace, and eternal life on those who have it [Rom 8.6]. Those who come to possess it will trample under their feet all disturbances, every kind of vice, and even the demons themselves who strive to suggest these things. And so, since the wisdom of the flesh is joined to death, it is hostile to God [Rom 8.7]. For it is always contrary to and fighting against the will of God and his law, and makes those bound to its laws hostile to God.
182. Nor it is possible for the person who is in the wisdom of the flesh to keep the precepts of God and be subject to his will. As long as we are servants of pleasure, we are incapable of being servants of God. But whenever we stamp out the enticements of self-indulgence and convey our entire selves to the Spirit so that we are no longer in the flesh (that is, in the passions of the flesh), it is then that we will be subject to God.
183. Now the Apostle’s text is not concerned with this flesh in which we live and in whose vessel our soul is contained, since all the saints were pleasing to God while encompassed by body and flesh. Rather, it is concerned with that which is perpetrated in human society against the precepts of God such as: You shall love the Lord your God [Deut 6.5] and That which you do not like . . . [Tob 4.15], and so forth.
Interpretation of Romans 8.9: the Spirit is inseparable from the Father and the Son [184–191]
184. “But as for you,” he says, undoubtedly meaning the disciples of Christ, “who have received the wisdom of the Spirit, his life, and his peace, you are not in the flesh, (that is, in the work of the flesh). For you do not perform its works, since you have the Spirit of God in you.” Now the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are the same, leading and joining the person who has him to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why it is written in what follows: But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ [Rom 8.9b]. 185. So once again, from this text we learn of the fellowship that the Holy Spirit has with Christ and God.
186. In the epistle of Peter there is further proof that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ: he says that the Prophets whom he mentioned above investigated and inquired into what time or which circumstance was being indicated by him who was the Spirit of Christ in them, when he was bearing witness to the sufferings reserved for Christ and the things decreed to follow after; it was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but us in those things which have now been announced to you through the Holy Spirit [1 Pet 1.11–12]. 187. The Holy Spirit just mentioned is also called the Spirit of God, not only in the present text, but also in many other passages, such as: No one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God [1 Cor 2.11]. 188. Then, following the passage which says: But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ [Rom 8.9b], it is added: But if Christ is in you [Rom 8.10a]. This demonstrates most clearly that the Holy Spirit is inseparable from Christ because wherever the Holy Spirit is, there also is Christ, and from wherever the Spirit of Christ departs, Christ also withdraws from that place.
189. For if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ [Rom 8.9b]. If anyone were to assume the contrary of this conditional proposition, he could say: “If anyone belongs to Christ such that Christ is in him, then the Spirit of Christ is in him.” 190. This same logic can also be deployed likewise in the case of God the Father: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of God, he does not belong to God.” Again, one may assume the contrary of this, saying: “If anyone belongs to God, then the Spirit of God is in him.” This is why it is written: Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that in you dwells the Spirit of God? [1 Cor 3.16]. And in the epistle of John: By this it is recognized that God dwells in certain persons, when the Spirit whom he gave remains in them [1 Jn 3.24; 4.13]. 191. All these passages demonstrate that the substance of the Trinity is inseparable and indivisible.
Interpretation of Romans 8.10–12: The Spirit gives us life [192–194]
192. Therefore, when he said: But if Christ is in you, although your body is dead because of sin [Rom 8.10a], in no way does he mean that the body is a slave to vices and wantonness. Rather, he means that when the body is made dead to sin, it will not be moved to vice and in no way will it be alive to sin. After the body has become dead to sin, Christ, who is present in those who have made their own bodies dead, manifests the Spirit of life when they do righteous works, either when they correct their deadly vices, or when they believe in Jesus Christ and live their lives according to faith in him.
193. Then the Apostle uses another conditional proposition (which the dialecticians more precisely call an ἀξίωμα), and says: But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus Christ from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life even to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. [Rom 8.11]. Doesn’t it seem to you that he is saying: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead”—that is, he who is the Spirit of the same Jesus Christ—“dwells in you, then as a consequence of this, along with your immortal souls even your mortal bodies will be given life by him who raised Jesus Christ from the dead and manifested him as the ruler and the first-born of the resurrection.”
194. Since the Holy Spirit has divinely granted us such a great gift as this, we are in debt to the Spirit, not to the flesh such that we have to live according to the flesh [Rom 8.12]. After all, whoever lives according to the flesh will die from that death which is the consequence of sin. According to James, when sin is fully grown it gives birth to death [Jam 1.15]. In addition, Ezekiel writes that the sinful soul dies when it is separated from the life that resides in the wisdom of the Spirit.
Interpretation of Romans 8.13–17: The life the Spirit gives makes us children of God [195–196]
195. If anyone passes beyond the life of the flesh and mortifies its deeds by the Spirit, he will live a blessed and eternal life, being counted among the children of God and directed to the true path through the Holy Spirit, who is also called the Spirit of God. For if you live according to the flesh, then you will die, but if you mortify the deeds of the body by the Spirit, then you will live [Rom 8.13]. And then it follows: For however many are led by the Spirit of God, they are children of God [Rom 8.14]. So then, after reviving and consoling them, and encouraging those to whom he spoke to hope for better things, he continues: For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading you back into fear [Rom 8.15a]. In other words: “You have not abstained from vices out of fear and terror of punishment, like a slave does. For the Father has given you the Spirit of adopted sonship, that is, the Holy Spirit, who is himself called the Spirit of the Son of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Truth and Wisdom. Now if this Spirit adopts as the children of God those in whom he has deigned to indwell, I leave it to you to infer the consequences of this power of his.”
196. Furthermore, those who have this God as their Father cry out through this Spirit of adopted sonship, as the text shows: through whom we cry out, “Abba! Father!” [Rom 8.15b]. The Spirit himself adopts us as children and bears witness when our spirit possesses the same Spirit by participation that we are children of God [Rom 8.16]. In consequence of this, on the one hand, God bestows spiritual gifts upon us like a father bestows a bountiful inheritance, but on the other hand, we are fellow heirs with Christ [Rom 8.17], insofar as we are called his brothers through his grace and kindness. We will be heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ if we suffer with him in order that we may also deserve to be glorified together with him through association with his sufferings [Rom 8.17].
4. The Prophet Isaiah: Isaiah 63.7–12 [197–230]
197. Now that we have discussed these matters to the extent that we could, let us examine a chapter of the Prophet which contains statements about the Holy Spirit. In this way, we learn not only from the New Testament but also from the Old Testament what we should believe and understand about him. For we said above that the grace of the Holy Spirit resides in all the saints, both those who lived after the advent of our Lord, and those who lived even before it (namely, the Patriarchs and Prophets), and that he filled them with various charisms and powers. Just as those who raised the standard of his righteousness both before and after his advent attained the knowledge of truth by possessing the grace of the one God and his Only-Begotten, so too will they possess the grace of the Holy Spirit. For time and again we have demonstrated in many places above that the Holy Spirit is inseparable from the Father and the Son. 198. So then, it is written in the Prophet:
7I have remembered the mercy of the Lord, and his power in all he has granted us. The Lord, the good judge of the house of Israel, treats us according to his mercy and according to the abundance of his righteousness. 8And he said: “Are my people not my children? And will they not refrain from dealing falsely?” And he became for them salvation 9from all their affliction. Neither a legate nor an angel, but he himself saved them because he loved them and spared them. He redeemed them and took them and raised them in all the days of the age. 10But they did not believe and they enraged his Holy Spirit, and he turned to them in animosity. He fought against them. 11And he remembered the days of the age, who led the shepherd of the sheep from the earth, who put the Holy Spirit on them, 12gathering them at the right hand of Moses [Is 63.7–12].
Interpretation of Isaiah 63.7 : God judges with mercy [199–202]
199. Frequent recipients of the blessings of God know that they have obtained them through his grace and mercy rather than through their own efforts. Being harmonious in mind and soul, they all speak as one: I have remembered the mercy of the Lord [Is 63.7]. 200. When they reflect on their frequent reception of gifts from the Lord through Moses, they give thanks. And besides his mercy, they also remember the manifestations of the Lord’s power, whether the wonders he repeatedly performed on their behalf among the peoples, or the soul’s advancement through education in the Law, the Prophets, and the salutary precepts of Moses. After all, in the Scriptures the term “power” signifies both.
201. Continuing on, they say that they remembered his mercy and powers in all that he has granted us, not according to his righteousness but according to the mercy and goodness of him who is the judge of both “the house that sees” and the one who sees God with a pure heart [Is 63.7]. Note that the phrase “the mind that sees God” translates “Israel” from Hebrew into our language. 202. Now even though a judge sometimes brings in the rack and other instruments to torture the condemned, nonetheless when someone considers the motives for these things with deeper insight, he sees the good intentions of the one who desires to correct the sinner and confesses that he is good, saying: He treats us according to his mercy [Is 63.7]. For if the Lord should mark the iniquities of those whom he judges, who could survive? [Ps 129.3]. Furthermore, since forgiveness is found with the Lord [Ps 129.4], our Lord and Savior treats us according to his mercy by bestowing everything conducive for our salvation. In addition, when he treats us according to his mercy in rendering judgment upon us, the sentence he justly grants is mixed with the goodness of mercy.
Refutation of a heretical interpretation of Isaiah 63.7 : The unity of the Old and New Testaments [203–205]
203. On the basis of the present chapter, we must confront the error of those heretics who separate goodness from justice, and fabricate one God who is good and another who is just. After all, you can see for yourself how in the present passage God himself is both good and judge, rewarding according to his mercy and justice, and being equally good and just. 204. Accordingly, it is to no avail that they make a pretense of defending the wicked teaching that the God of the Gospel is good and that the God of the Old Testament is just. For in many other passages as well as in the present text of the Prophet, God is described as a “good judge.” In addition, they deny that God is referred to as a “just judge” in the epistle of Paul the Apostle, who certainly is a preacher of the New Testament: Laid up for me is a crown of justice which the just judge will award me [2 Tim 4.8].
205. Therefore, even if they deny it, the God of the New and Old Testaments is the same, the Creator of things seen and unseen. The Savior too gives clear testimony in the Gospel that the Father is just and good: Just Father, the world has not known you [Jn 17.25]. And in another passage: No one is good, except God alone [Mk 10.18]. Furthermore, in the Old Law, in some places God is called “just” and in others “good.” In the psalms: The Lord is just and loves justice [Ps 10.7]. And the opposite in Jeremiah: God is good to those who endure for him [Lam 3.25]. Again in the psalms: How good the God of Israel is to those who are pure of heart! [Ps 72.1]. These testimonies truly suffice to sum up our position against the heretics.
Interpretation of Isaiah 63.8–9 : Christ the Lord is our only Savior [206–211]
206. It is time for us to return to the thread intended by the Prophet, which continues in this way: And he—without a doubt, the Lord—said: “Are my people not my children? And will they not refrain from dealing falsely?” [Is 63.8]. He is saying that they will not be like those who, after being born and raised, scorned the one who begot them. And he became for them salvation [Is 63.8], that is, for those about whom the Lord said: “Are my people not my children? And will they not refrain from dealing falsely?” [Is 63.8]. Because they refrained from dealing falsely and did not despise the Father, for them he became salvation. Or because they are called children, he became for them a cause of salvation.
207. The voice of the angel affirmed to the shepherds that Christ the Lord bestows salvation, when the angel said: Behold! I bring you tidings of a great joy which will come to all people. For to you is born today in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord [Lk 2.10–11]. He became for all who believe in him the occasion for eternal salvation. He is the Savior of the world who comes to seek whatever is lost. Concerning him, the choir of saints sings: This God of ours is a God who saves! [Ps 67.21].
208. Therefore, since it was God who bestowed eternal salvation, it was said: Neither a legate nor an angel [Is 63.9]. In other words, neither a Prophet, nor a Patriarch, nor Moses the Lawgiver saved them. For all those whom I have just listed could only serve as legates before God on behalf of their people. When Moses interceded on behalf of the sinful people, he said: If you will forgive them of their sin, forgive it [Ex 32.32]. He begged for their forgiveness, fasting for forty days and calling upon the mercy of God in the affliction of his soul. For no legate from among those I listed can be the Savior since the legate himself also needs him who is the true bestower of salvation. As for angels, however many spirits there may be and to however many diverse ministries they may be sent for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation, they are nonetheless not the authors of salvation. Rather, they speak for and proclaim him who is the font of salvation.
209. When it is said that neither a legate nor an angel, but the Lord himself saved them [Is 63.9], he saved them for no other reason than this: because he loved them and spared them [Is 63.9]. The phrase he spared them means that he spared his creatures, as we see in the passage written elsewhere: You spare all, O Lord the lover of souls, because they belong to you. For you do not hate what you have made [Wis 11.27+25]. 210. For this reason and for their salvation, the Father did not spare his own Son and handed him over to death, so that through his Son’s death, after the destruction of the one who had the power of death (that is, the devil), he could redeem all who had been held by him in the chains of captivity.
Hence it is added: He redeemed them and took them and raised them [Is 63.9]. For he took and raised those who had been saved and redeemed. He carried them to the heights on the wings of virtue through both knowledge and understanding of the truth. He dwells in them and with them, not for one or two days only, but for all the days of eternity. He bestows life upon them and is the author of salvation even to the consummation of the age. Enlightening their hearts for all the days of the age, he does not permit them to live in the darkness of ignorance and error. 211. And this, I think, is the meaning of the passage: he raised them in all the days [Is 63.9].
Interpretation of Isaiah 63.10: sinners enrage the Holy Spirit [212–214]
212. Nonetheless, since they were inconstant and willingly fell into vice, after such great kindnesses they lost faith in God, abandoned his precepts, and enraged the Holy Spirit of God, who had granted them many goods. They fell into the sin that resembles that of those who scorned their Father after being born and raised. We can be quite certain that those of whom we now speak are identical with others who were mentioned earlier. For after their sin, it was also said to them there: You have forsaken the Lord and roused the Holy One of Israel to wrath! [Is 1.4]. The present passage says something equivalent: But they did not believe and they enraged his Holy Spirit [Is 63.10]. 213. Therefore, the present passage demonstrates the Spirit is associated with God. Whoever forsakes the Lord and loses faith provokes the Holy One of Israel to wrath and enrages his Holy Spirit. In addition, the same anger directed at sinners is ascribed to the Holy Spirit as much as it is to the Holy One of Israel.
214. Even what follows demonstrates that the Trinity has a similar bond. For Scripture says that the Lord turned in animosity to those who had enraged his Holy Spirit [Is 63.10] and that he handed them over to everlasting torment after they had blasphemed against his Holy Spirit, not in their words, but in their deeds. And so, the Lord turned to them in animosity, fought against them [Is 63.10], and subjected them to manifold and lengthy torments, so that neither in the present time nor in the future would they attain forgiveness for their sins. For they enraged his Holy Spirit [Is 63.10] and blasphemed against him.
Interpretation of Isaiah 63.10–11. How the Jews enraged the Holy Spirit [215–220]
215. But perhaps you want to apply this passage to the Jews who crucified the Lord Savior and accordingly enraged the Holy Spirit. If so, that which is written: he fought against them [Is 63.10] can be understood in this sense: they were handed over to the Romans when the wrath of God came upon them in the end. 216. For throughout the entire earth and all regions they wander alone in foreign lands as exiles from their homeland, having neither their ancient city nor their own habitations. They are recipients of what they did to the Prophets and to their Savior. Since they were bloodthirsty and continually seized by a frenzied insanity, not only did they kill the Prophets and stone those sent to them, but proceeding to the pinnacle of impiety, they betrayed and crucified the Lord Savior who deigned to descend to earth for the salvation of all. For this reason they were expelled from the city which they stained with the blood of the Prophets and Christ.
217. And so, it is in this sense that we ought to understand that the Lord fought against them [Is 63.10]: not for a brief time, but for every age to come, even to the consummation of the world. For as we said, they wander as fugitives and captives among all nations, having neither a city nor their own region. But yet, since the one who previously fought against them is naturally kind and merciful, he grants them an opportunity for repentance, if they want to be converted for the better. 218. This is why it is said: And he remembered the days of the age [Is 63.11]. For when he remembered the times to come, he partially opened to them the door that had been closed, so that after the full number of gentiles has entered, then all Israel worthy of this designation might be saved [Rom 11.25–26].
219. Even though they burst out into such heedlessness that they murdered the one who was sent on their behalf, saying: His blood be upon us and upon our sons! [Mt 27.35], nonetheless God raised him up from the earth in the heart of which he abided for three days and three nights [Mt 12.40] as the shepherd of his sheep. For the text continues as follows: he led the shepherd of sheep from the earth [Is 63.11]. 220. But we learn clearly in the Gospel that the shepherd of the sheep of God whom the Prophet describes in the present text is our Lord Jesus Christ. For the Savior himself testifies: I am the good shepherd, and I lay down my life for my sheep [Jn 10.27]. And again: My sheep hear my voice [Jn 10.27].
Interpretation of Isaiah 63.11–12. The Holy Spirit is given so that believers may be saints [221–225]
221. After all these passage, the Prophet continues: Where is he who put the Holy Spirit upon them? [Is 63.11]. For he is astonished that they have passed from such great happiness to so many miseries. It is as if he says: “This one who redeemed them, who raised them, who put his Holy Spirit on them, dwelling with them: where is he now? Where did he go? He forsook them because they first forsook him and provoked the Holy One of Israel to wrath. But long ago God had put the Holy Spirit on them while they were still good and striving to follow his precepts.”
222. Now the Holy Spirit is only introduced to those who have forsaken their vices, who follow the choir of the virtues, and who live by faith in Christ in accordance with and through virtue. But if little by little, when negligence creeps up on them, they begin to fall into worse things, they arouse against themselves the Holy Spirit who dwells in them, and they make the one who gave him to them hostile. The Apostle wrote something like this to the Thessalonians: For God did not call you to impurity, but rather to holiness [1 Thess 4.7].
223. And so, he who spurns (note that “he who deals falsely with” better renders the Greek) does not deal falsely with a man but with God who gave his Holy Spirit to you. For in these texts, God who calls to holiness through faith, that is, who calls in order that believers may become holy, gave the Holy Spirit to them. As long as they kept the precepts of God, the Holy Spirit whom they received remained on them. But when they fell through slippery vice and lapsed into impurity, they spurned (or rather they dealt falsely with) God who gave the Holy Spirit to them to make them holy, not slaves to impurity. Accordingly, those who committed such acts will pay a penalty not as if they spurned a man, but as if they spurned God.
224. So that we may know that the Holy Spirit who is given to believers is God, let us learn from the utterance of the Prophet Isaiah himself when he introduces God saying to someone: My Spirit is in you, and I gave my words to your mouth [Is 59.21]. This text indicates that whoever receives the Spirit of God also possesses along with him the words of God (that is, words of wisdom and knowledge). And indeed in another passage of the same Prophet, God says: I gave my Spirit upon him [Is 42.1].
225. And so, he who puts the Holy Spirit on them remembers that Moses was sanctified by his right hand [Is 63.12], or rather that he was an enlightened man and an initiate into the mysteries of God. Concerning him, the Lord said to Joshua the Son of Nun: Moses is my servant [Jos 1.13, 15], or rather, his Law written in the Old Testament. For I remember frequently reading that Moses is named in place of the Law, as here: Even to today, when Moses is read [2 Cor 3.15]. And Abraham said to the rich man being punished: There they have Moses and the prophets [Lk 16.29]. These passages are clear and certain proof that Moses does not signify the man mentioned above, but rather the Law.
Interpretation of Isaiah 63.12. The right hand of God and the Lordly Man [226–230]
226. Furthermore, what is the right hand of God that guided Moses, if not our Lord and Savior? For he is the right hand of the Father and through him the Father brings salvation, raises, and triumphs, as it is said elsewhere about God: His right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation to him [Ps 97.1]. And again: The Lord’s right hand has triumphed; the Lord’s right hand raised me; I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the works of the Lord [Ps 117.16–17].
227. This passage is certainly the most manifest proof that this voice belongs to the person of the Lordly Man, whom the only-begotten Son of God deigned to assume from the virgin because he is the right hand of God, as is written in the Acts of the Apostles. He was descended from David according to the flesh [Rom 1.3] and born of a virgin when the Holy Spirit came upon her and the power of the Most High overshadowed her [Lk 1.35]. David prophesied about him in the Spirit, saying that after he arose from the dead, he would be assumed into the heavens and lifted up by the right hand of God. 228. But here is how it is written in the Acts of the Apostles:
31In his foresight the same David spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the netherworld, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32This Jesus God raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33Therefore he was raised up by the right hand of God, and when he had received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this gift on us which you yourselves see and hear. 34For not even David ascended into the heavens [Acts 2.31–34].
After all, there can be no doubt that it was the Lord Jesus who was raised by the right hand of God and rose again from the netherworld, as he himself testifies in the text of Scripture. For he who rose from the dead says: I lie down to rest and I began to sleep, and I rose again, for the Lord upholds me [Ps 3.6].
229. And so, the word of God proclaims that he who was assumed into the heavens was raised up by the right hand of God (which we spoke about above), and that he received the promise of the Spirit from the Father and poured him out on believers so that the mighty works of God were declared in every language [Acts 2.11]. Thus the Lordly Man received communion with the Holy Spirit, as is written in the Gospels: Therefore, Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan [Lk 4.1]. And in another passage: Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee [Lk 4.14].
230. But we ought to take these statements in a spirit of piety without any malicious criticism about the Lordly Man. It is not the case that “Lord” is one thing and “Man” another. Rather, we must reason about one and the same subject as if he were one thing according to the nature of God and another thing according to the nature of man. Furthermore, we must do this because God the Word, the only-begotten Son of God, admits of neither alternation nor increase, since he is the fullness of good things.