ACC ~ John 14 v22 - 23
GOD REVEALS HIMSELF TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM
AUGUSTINE: Judas the holy, not the impure, the follower, not the persecutor of our Lord, asks why Jesus will make himself known to his own but not to the world. ⌠Jesus answers that is because the one loves him and the other does not. ⌠The saints are distinguished from the world by that love that moves those who are of one mind to dwell together in a house. In this house Father and Son make their home and impart that very love to those whom they shall also honor at last with this promised self-manifestation that the disciple asked his master about. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 76.1-2. [1]
[1] NPNF 1 7:337*.
LOVE KEEPS SELF-WILL IN CHECK
GREGORY THE GREAT: The proof of love is its manifestation in deeds. This is why John says in his letter, âHe who says, âI love Godâ and does not observe his commandments is a liar.â [1] Our love is true if we keep our self-will in check according to his commandments. One who is still wandering here and there through his unlawful desires does not really love God, because he is opposing him in his self-will. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 30.1. [2]
[1] 1 Jn 4:20.
[2] CS 123:236-37; PL 76:1220.
GOD DWELLS IN US AFTER CLEANING HOUSE
ORIGEN: God does indeed consume and utterly destroy: he consumes evil thoughts, wicked actions and sinful desires when they find their way into the minds of believers. God, with his Son, inhabits those souls that have been rendered capable of receiving his word and wisdom, in line with his saying, âI and the Father shall come and make our abode with him.â After their vices and passions have been consumed, he makes them a holy temple, worthy of himself. ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1.1.2. [1]
[1] ANF 4:242*; GCS 22(5):17-18.
GOD AS GUEST
GREGORY THE GREAT: Consider, dearly beloved, how great this solemnity is that commemorates the coming of God as a guest in our hearts. If some rich and powerful friend were to enter your home, you would quickly clean the entire house for fear something there might offend your friendâs eyes when he entered. Let anyone then who is preparing his inner house for God cleanse away the dirt of his evil deeds. ⌠He does indeed enter the hearts of some but does not make his home there because through repentance they acquire respect for God, but during a time of temptation they forget that they have repented and so return to committing sins as if they had never wept over them at all. The Lord comes into the heart and makes his home in one who truly loves God and observes his commandments, since the love of his divine nature so penetrates him that he does not turn away from it during times of temptation. That person loves truly whose heart does not consent to be overcome by wicked pleasures. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 30.2. [1]
[1] CS 123:237; PL 76:1220-21.
GOD WILL NOT DWELL IN THE FILTH OF SIN
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Just as we ourselves cannot bear to live among filth and stench and are eager to rid our houses of such if there should be any, will not the pure and all-holy God even more disdain the polluted soul and abhor a heart sunk in the swamp of sin? Of this there can be no question. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10. [1]
[1] LF 48:333*.
ONE MYSTERIOUS INDWELLING
HILARY OF POITIERS: For by this he testified that while the Spirit of Christ abides in us the Spirit of God abides in us. The Spirit of him who was raised from the dead is no different from the Spirit of him who raised him from the dead. For they come and dwell in us. I ask whether they will come as strangers associated together and make their abode or in unity of nature? No, the teacher of the Gentiles contends that it is not two spiritsâthe spirits of God and of Christâthat are present in those who believe but the Spirit of Christ, which is also the Spirit of God. This is no joint indwelling; it is one indwelling, yet an indwelling under the mysterious semblance of a joint indwelling. For it is not the case that two spirits indwell, nor is one that indwells different from the other. For there is in us the Spirit of God and there is also in us the Spirit of Christ, and when the Spirit of Christ is in us there is also in us the Spirit of God. And so, since what is of God is also of Christ, and what is of Christ is also of God, Christ cannot be anything different from what God is. Christ, therefore, is God, one Spirit with God. ON THE TRINITY 8.27. [1]
[1] NPNF 2 9:145*; CCL 62A:338-39.
GOD DWELLS NOT ONLY IN HEAVEN
AMBROSE: It is only right that heaven is first and last in the creation of the world, for heaven also has what is beyond heaven, the God of heaven who says, âHeaven is my throne.â [1] For God does not sit above the element of heaven but in the heart of humankind. For this reason the Lord also says, âWe will come to them and make our home with them.â Heaven, therefore, is the first of the works on earth. Human beings are the close or end or last of his works. LETTER 49 (TO HORONTIANUS). [2]
[1] Is 66:1.
[2] FC 26:257-58**; CSEL 82 1:99.
GOD IS PLEASED TO DWELL IN US
AUGUSTINE: God is not too grand to come, he is not too fussy or shy, he is not too proudâon the contrary he is pleased to come if you do not displease him. Listen to the promise he makes. Listen to him indeed promising with pleasure, not threatening in displeasure, âWe shall come to him,â he says, âI and the Father.â To the one he had earlier called his friend, the one who obeys his precepts, the keeper of his commandment, the lover of God, the lover of his neighbor, he says, âWe shall come to him and make our abode with him.â SERMON 23.6. [1]
[1] WSA 3 2:59; CCL 41:312.
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