ACC ~ John 15 v16a

FRIEND OF GOD BY GRACE

GREGORY THE GREAT: But let one who has attained the dignity of being called a friend of God observe that the gifts he perceives in himself are beyond him. Let him attribute nothing to his own merits so that he becomes an enemy. The Lord adds, “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and appointed you to go and bring forth fruit. I have appointed you for grace. I have planted you to go willingly and bring forth fruit by your works.” FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 27. [1]

[1] CS 123:216; PL 76:1207.

TRULY AMAZING GRACE

AUGUSTINE: “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” That is amazing grace! … For what were we before Christ had chosen us besides being wicked and lost? We did not believe in him, so as to be chosen by him. For if he chose those who already believed, then he was [in effect] chosen himself prior to his choosing [them]. … This passage refutes the vain opinion of those who say that we were chosen before the foundation of the world [1] because God foreknew that we should be good, not that he himself would make us good. For if he had chosen us because he foreknew that we should be good, he would have foreknown also that we should first choose him. For without choosing him we cannot be good, unless indeed someone can be called good who has not chosen good. What then has he chosen in those who are not good? … You cannot say, I am chosen because I believed. For if you believed in him, you had already chosen him. Nor can you say, Before I believed I did good works and therefore was chosen. For what good work is there before faith when the apostle says, “Whatever is not of faith is sin”? [2] What is there for us to say, then, but that we were wicked and were chosen, that by the grace of having been chosen we might become good? TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 86.2. [3]

[1] Eph 1:4.

[2] Rom 14:23.

[3] NPNF 1 7:353**; CCL 36:542.

OUR GLORY IS TO SERVE

IRENAEUS: As much as God lacks nothing, so much do we stand in need of fellowship with God. For this is the glory of humanity: to continue and remain permanently in God’s service. This is also why the Lord said to his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you,” indicating that they did not glorify him when they followed him but that, in following the Son of God, they were glorified by him. AGAINST HERESIES 4.14.1. [1]

[1] ANF 1:478*; SC 100:540.