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John i. 16.
"And of His fullness have all we received, and grace forgrace"
I.] I SAID the other day, that John, to resolve the doubts of
those who should question with themselves how the Lord, though He
came after to the preaching, became before and more glorious than he,
added, "for He was before me." And this is indeed one reason.
But not content with this, he adds again a second, which now he
declares. What is it? "And of his fullness," says he, "have all
we received, and grace for grace." With these again he mentions
another. What is this? That Ver. 7. "The law was given by
Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
And what means that, saith he, "Of His fullness have all we
received"? for to this we must for a while direct our discourse. He
possesseth not, says he, the gift by participation, but is Himself
the very Fountain and very Root of all good, very Life, and very
Light, and very Truth, not retaining within Himself the riches of
His good things, but overflowing with them unto all others, and after
the overflowing remaining full, in nothing diminished by supplying
others, but streaming ever forth, and imparting to others a share of
these blessings, He remains in sameness of perfection. What I
possess is by participation, (for I received it from another) and is
a small portion of the whole, as it were a poor rain-drop compared
with the untold abyss or the boundless sea; or rather not even can this
instance fully express what we attempt to say, for if you take a drop
from the sea, you have lessened the sea itself, though the diminution
be imperceptible. But of that Fountain we cannot say this; how much
soever a man draw, It continues undiminished. We therefore must
needs proceed to another instance, a weak one also, and not able to
establish what we seek, but which guides us better than the former one
to the thought now proposed to us.
Let us suppose that there is a fountain of fire; that from that
fountain ten thousand lamps are kindled, twice as many, thrice as
many, ofttimes as many; does not the fire remain at the same degree of
fullness even after its imparting of its virtue to such members? It is
plain to every man that it does. Now if in the case of bodies which
are made up of parts, and are diminished by abstraction, one has been
found of such a from itself it sustains no loss, much more will this
take place with that incorporeal and uncompounded Power. If in the
instance given, that which is communicated is substance and body, is
divided yet does not suffer division, when our discourse is concerning
an energy, and an energy too of an incorporeal substancce it is much
more probable that this will undergo nothing of the sort. And
therefore John said, "Of His fullness have all we received," and
joins his own testimony to that of the Baptist; for the expression,
"Of his fulness have we all received," belongs not to the forerunner
but to the disciple; and its meaning is something like this: "Think
not," he says, "that we, who long time companied with Him, and
partook of His food and tone, bear witness through favor," since
even John, who did not even know Him before, who had never even been
with Him, but merely saw Him in company with others when he was
baptizing cried out, "He was before me," having from that source
received all; and all we the twelve, the three hundred, the three
thousand, the five thousand, the many myriads of Jews, all the
fullness of the faithful who then were, and now are, and hereafter
shall be, have "received of His fulness." What have we received?
"grace for grace," saith he. What grace, for what? For the old,
the new. For there was a righteousness, and again a righteousness,
("Touching the righteousness which is in the law," saith Paul
"blameless.") (Phil. iii. 6.) There was a faith, there is a
faith. ("From faith to faith.") (Rom. i. 17.) There was
an adoption, there is an adoption. ("To whom pertaineth the
adoption.") (Rom. ix.
4.) There was a glory, there is a glory. ("For if that which
was done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is
glorious?") (2 Cor. iii. II.)
There was a law, and there is a law. ("For the law of the Spirit
of life hath made me free.") (Rom. viii. 2.) There was a
service, and there is a service.
("To whom pertaineth the service "-- Rom. ix. 4: and again:
"Serving God in the Spirit.") (Phil. iii. 3.) There was a
covenant, and there is a covenant.
("I will make with you a a new covenant, not according to the
covenant which I made with your fathers.") (Jer. xxii. 31.)
There was a sanctification, and there is a sanctification: there was
a baptism, and there is a Baptism: there was a sacrifice, and there
is a Sacrifice: there was a temple, and there is a temple: there was
a circumcision, and there is a circumcision; and so too there was a
"grace," and there is a "grace." But the words in the first case
are used as types, in the second as realities, preserving a sameness
of sound, though not of sense. So in patterns and figures, the shape
of a man scratched with white lines upon a black ground is called a man
as well as that which has receded the correct coloring; and in the case
of statues, the figure whether formed of gold or of plaster, is alike
called a statue, though in the one case as a model in the other as a
reality.
2. Do not then, because the same words are used, suppose that the
things are identical, nor yet diverse either; for in that they were
models they did not differ from the truth; but in that they merely
preserved the outline, they were less than the truth. What is the
difference in all these instances? Will you that we take in hand and
proceed to examine one or two of the cases mentioned? thus the rest
will be plain to you; and we shall see that the first were lessons for
children, the last for high-minded full-grown men; that the first
laws were made as for mortals, the latter as for angels.
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, Ye are gods, and all of you are
children of the Most High" (Ps. lxxxii. 6); 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
then even after they had received the title of sons, retained the
spirit of slavery, (for while they remained laves 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 ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye
have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father." (Rom. viii. 15.) 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. Then 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 saith to them, "Ye shall not use divination, nor make
in being free from the customs of idolatry; but it is not so with us.
"That she may be holy," saith Paul, "in body and spirit." (1
Cor. vii. 34.) "Follow peace, and holiness, without which no
man shall see the Lord" (Heb. xii. 14): and, "Perfecting
holiness in the fear of God." (2 Cor. vii. 1.) 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"
(Isa. vi. 5); 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,"
saith one, "a starting place to the wise, and he becometh wiser."
(Prov. ix. 9, LXX.) 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," saith God, "not because you were many in number,
but because of your fathers." (Deut. vii. 7, LXX.) 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 saith, "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 saith; "The Lord executeth righteousness
and judgment for all that are oppressed; He made known His ways unto
Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel" (Ps. ciii. 6,
7): and again; "Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will He
give laws to them that are in the way." (Ps. xxv. 8.)
3. Therefore that men received the law was of pity, mercies, and
grace; and for this reason he saith, "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."
See ye how gently, by a single word and by little and 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, "is 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," saith 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, "Thy sins be
forgiven thee" (Matt. ix. 2); and again, "But that ye may
know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins (He
saith to the sick of the palsy), Arise, take up thy bed, and go
unto thine house." (Ibid. v. 6.)
Seest thou how "grace" cometh by Him? look also to "truth." His
"grace" the instance just mentioned, and what happened in the case of
the thief, and the gift of Baptism, and the grace of the Spirit
given by Him declare, and many other things. But His "truth" we
shall more clearly know, if we understand the types. For the types
like patterns anticipated and sketched beforehand the dispensations
which should be accomplished under the new covenant, and Christ came
and fulfilled them. Let us now consider the types in few words, for
we cannot at the present time go through all that relates to them; but
when you have learned some points from those (instances) which I
shall set before you, you will know the others also.
Will you then that we begin with the Passion itself? What then saith
the type? "Take ye a lamb for an house, and kill it, and do as he
commanded and ordained." (Ex. xii. 3.) But it is not so with
Christ. He doth not command this to be done, but Himself becomes
It, by offering Himself a Sacrifice and Oblation to His Father.
4. See how the type was "given by Moses," but the "Truth came
by Jesus Christ." (Ex. xvii. 12.)
Again, when the Amalekites warred in Mount Sinai, the hands of
Moses were supported, being stayed up by Aaron and Hur standing on
either side of him (Ex. xvii. 12); but when Christ came, He
of Himself stretched forth His Hands upon the Cross. Hast thou
observed how the type "was given," but "the Truth came"?
Again, the Law said, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in
all things that are written in this book." (Deut. xxvii. 26,
LXX.) But I what saith grace? "Come unto Me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. xi.
28); and Paul, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us." (Gal. iii. 13.)
Since then we have enjoyed such "grace" and "truth," I exhort you
that we be not more slothful by reason of the greatness of the gift;
for the greater the honor of which we have been deemed worthy, the
greater our debt of excellence; for one who has received but small
benefits, even though he makes but small returns, does not deserve the
same condemnation; but he who has been raised to the highest summit of
honor, and yet manifests groveling and mean dispositions, will be
worthy of much greater punishment. May I never have to suspect this
of you. For we trust in the Lord that you have winged your souls for
heaven, that you have removed from earth, that being in the world ye
handle not the things of the world; yet though so persuaded, we do not
cease thus continually to exhort you. In the games of the heathen,
they whom all the spectators encourage are not those who have fallen and
lie supine, but those who are exerting themselves and running still;
of the others, (since they would be doing what would be of no use,
and would not be able to raise up by their encouragements men once for
all severed from victory,) they cease to take any notice. But in
this case some good may be expected, not only of you who are sober,
but even of those who have fallen, if they would but be converted.
Wherefore we use every means, exhorting, reproving, encouraging,
praising, in order that we may bring about your salvation. Be not
then offended by our continual admonishing concerning the Christian
conversation, for the words are not the words of one accusing you of
sloth, but of one who has very excellent hopes respecting you. And
not to you alone, but to ourselves who speak them, are these words
said, yea, and shall be said, for we too need the same teaching; so
though they be spoken by us, yet nothing hinders their being spoken to
us, (for the Word, when it finds a man in fault, amends him, when
clear and free, sets him as far off from it as possible,) and we
ourselves are not pure from transgressions. The course of healing is
the same for all, the medicines are set forth for all, only the
application is not the same, but is made according to the choice of
those who use the medicines; for one who will handle the remedy as he
ought, gains some benefit from the application, while he who does not
place it upon the wound, makes the evil greater, and brings it to the
most painful end. Let us then not fret when we are being healed, but
much rather rejoice, even though the system of discipline bring bitter
pains, for hereafter it will show to us fruit sweeter than any. Let
us then do all to this end, that we may depart to that world, cleared
of the wounds and strokes which the teeth of sin make in the soul, so
that having become worthy to behold the countenance of Christ, we may
be delivered in that day, not to the avenging and cruel powers, but to
those who are able to bring us to that inheritance of the heavens which
is prepared for them that love Him; to which may it come to pass that
we all attain, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus
Christ, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
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