ГЛAВA I. О БОГЕ, КАК ОСВЯТИТЕЛЕ

§ 165. The concept of sanctification, the participation of all Persons. Trinity in the matter of sanctification and the calculation of means or conditions for sanctification Under the name of sanctification (άγιασμός, δικαιοσίνη, sanctificatio, justificatio) we mean the actual assimilation to us of the merits of Christ, or such a thing in which the all-holy God, under certain conditions on our part, actually cleanses us from sins, justifies us and makes us sanctified and holy (1 Cor. 1:1 ; 2 Cor. 1, 2). And these scourges are evil, wrote St. The Apostle Paul to the Corinthian Christians, having numbered the different kinds of sinners, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6:11). This sanctification, according to the ancient teachers of faith, constitutes, as it were, the main principle of our salvation, completing it with itself, so that the latter without the first would still be incomplete 428. II. All the Persons of the Most Holy One participate in the work of our sanctification. Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father, to whom the Son prayed even during the days of his ministry on earth for those who believe in Him; Holy Father..., sanctify them in your truth (John 17:11.17), and about which the Apostle later wrote to Christians: may he and the God of peace sanctify you, who are all perfect in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The Son, who for this purpose gave Himself for the Church, may sanctify it, cleanse it with the washing of water in the verb: let it present to itself a glorious church, not having any filthiness or vice, or anything of such, but let it be holy and blameless (Eph. 5:26.27), - and, indeed, we may receive wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification (1 Cor. 1, 30). The Holy Spirit, which is therefore called holy in the primary sense (1 Cor. 8:6; 12:3, etc.), because it sanctifies everything 429 ·, is also called the Spirit of holiness (Rom. 1:4), perfecting holiness in us (1 Peter 1:2; 2 Sol. 2:13). In general, the idea of ​​the participation of all Persons of the Most Rev. The Trinity in the matter of our sanctification is expressed by St. The Apostle, when he says: divisions of gifts are, and the same is the Spirit: and divisions of ministries are, and the same is the Lord: and divisions of actions are, and the same is God, working all in all (1 Cor. 12:4-6); or: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit with everyone (2 Cor. 13:13). And again: when the grace and love of God our Savior appeared, not by righteous works, which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us by the washing of regeneration, and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, which was poured out on us richly by Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might be heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7). The same thought was expressed by St. Fathers of the Church, for example: St. Basil the Great: “Blessed Paul, writing to the faithful, said in one place: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit with you all (2 Cor. 13:13). For when everything is worked by God through Jesus Christ in the Spirit, I see the action of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit inseparable. Therefore, all saints are churches of God and the Son and the Holy Spirit; in them lives one Divinity, one Dominion and one Holiness of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, through the one shrine of baptism” 430. And in another place: “The Spirit in every action is united and inseparable with the Father and the Son; Together with God, who makes the division of actions, and with the Lord, who makes the division of ministries, the Holy Spirit also resides, who is sovereign in distributing gifts according to the dignity of each. For it is said: division of gifts..." and so on. 431. St. Athanasius the Great: “Blessed Paul does not divide the Trinity, on the contrary, he teaches about the unity of It, when, speaking to the Corinthians about spiritual gifts, he raises everything to one God the Father as the head, as follows: divisions of gifts are, and the same is the Spirit; and divisions of ministries are, and the same is the Lord; and divisions of actions are, and the same is God, acting all in all (1 Cor. 12, 4-6). For what the Spirit shares with each one is given to each one from the Father through the Word: everything that belongs to the Father belongs also to the Son; therefore, the gifts given from the Son in the Spirit are together the gifts of the Father. In the same way, when the Spirit abides in us, then the Word, who gave us the Spirit, abides in us, and in the Word also the Father, and what is said is fulfilled: we will come to him (I and the Father) and make our abode with him (John 14:23). For where there is light, there is radiance, and where there is radiance, there are its effects and beneficence. The same Paul teaches this in his second letter to the Corinthians with the words: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit with everyone (13:13). The grace and gift given by the Trinity is given from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. For as grace is given to us from (έκ) the Father through (διά) the Son; so the communication of giving to us is possible only in (έν) the Holy Spirit. Having received it, we have the love of the Father, and the grace of the Son, and the communion of the Spirit himself” 432. In particular, as in St. Scripture, and in the writings of the teachers of the Church - 1. The Father appears to be the source of our sanctification. From Him the Savior initially sent down the Holy Spirit to earth: and I will pray the Father, Christ said to his disciples before ascending to heaven, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever (John 14:16); The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything (- 26); When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, bears witness about me (15:26). From Him, the Father, first of all, the Apostles produce all subsequent distributions of grace-filled gifts to believers: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2; Col. 1:3, etc.); or: grace, mercy, peace from God our Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord (1 Tim. 1, 2; 2 Tim. 1, 2; Tit. 1, 4), - the Apostles usually expressed themselves in their well-wishes for Christians 433. In this sense, we must understand the words of Christ: no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (John 6:44). 2. The Holy Spirit appears to be the accomplisher of our sanctification. Appearing on earth, soon after the Savior’s ascension to heaven, in order to assimilate to us the work of salvation, the Holy Spirit has ever since remained in the Church (John 14:16), regenerates sinners in the sacrament of baptism (John 3:5), is communicated to believers in grace-filled gifts, as the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, the Spirit of the fear of God (Isa. 11:2.3), dwells in us as in his churches (1 Cor. 6:19), helps us in our weaknesses (Rom. 8:26), produces spiritual fruits in us: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control (Gal. 5:22) and all others, so that no one can speak of the Lord Jesus except by the Holy Spirit ( 1 Cor. 12, 3) 434. 3. The Son is presented as the author of our sanctification. He earned for us all the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit by his death on the cross. Therefore, if the Spirit was sent down from the Father to earth: it was not otherwise than through the intercession of the Son (John 14:16), in the name of the Son (-26), and would never have been sent down if the Son had not completed the work of our redemption on the cross, and, due to his merits, had not been glorified (John 7:39). That is why the Son is portrayed as the dispenser of the Holy Spirit to all who believe and thirst for the water of life (John 7:37.38), and the grace of the Spirit is usually called the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 16:24; 1 Cor. 16:23; 2 Cor. 13:13; Gal. 6:18; Phil. 4:23; 2 Sol. 3, 18), or the grace of Christ (Gal. 1:6; 2 Cor. 12:9), the grace given in Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9), and the Holy Spirit himself - the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9), the Spirit of the Son (Gal. 4:6). That is why it is said that it is Christ who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16), that Christ, as the eternal High Priest, having made himself a single sacrifice for the ages of those who are sanctified (Heb. 10:14), constantly intercedes for us in heaven (8:25), and sends down to us all the divine powers, even for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), that the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in us is the dwelling of Christ himself (Rom. 8:9.10; demolished 2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 2:20) 435, that without Christ we cannot do anything (John 15:5), and that He is the one who sanctifies us with the Holy Spirit 436, and we are sanctified (Heb. 2:11; 10:29; 13:12), or sanctified in Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 1:2). 4. In order for us to assimilate the merits of our Savior and, indeed, become sanctified, He - 1) founded on earth His grace-filled kingdom, the Church, as a living instrument through which He accomplishes our sanctification; 2) communicates to us in the Church and through the Church the grace of the Holy Spirit, as a power that sanctifies us; and 3) established the sacraments in the Church as the means through which the grace of the Holy Spirit is communicated to us. ; αγιασμός εάν μή γένηται, ουδέ τό μυστήριον τελείται. Severian. de mund. creat, orat. II, n. 6 (apud Chrysost. T. VI, p. 453, ed. Montfauc.). Cfr. Oecumen. in Epist. ad Thess. 1, p. III, vers. 13. Bac. led o Holy Spirit ch. 9, in TV. St. Father VII, 265–267. Against. Eunom. book 5, in TV. St. Father VII, 220. About the Holy Spirit Ch. 16; ibid pp. 286–287. Epist. ad Serapion. 1, n. 30. The same thought is expressed in church songs, for example, the following: “There is one grace of the Father, the Son and the Spirit, which freely desires true divine baptism, the birth of sons and receives the power to cry: God, blessed are you” (Min. for Genv. sheet. 44 on the reverse, Moscow 1837). Vasil. led about the Holy Spirit ch. 16, in TV. St. Father VII, 287: “From what the Apostle mentioned here (1 Cor. 12:4-6.11) firstly about the Spirit, secondly about the Son, and thirdly about God and the Father, one should not at all conclude that his order is perverted. The apostle took the attitude towards us as the beginning; because we, who receive a gift, first of all turn our thoughts to the giver, then we imagine the sender, and then we raise our thoughts to the Source and Wine of goods.” (Cyrill. Alex. contr. Julian. lib. 1). They also taught: Vasil. led (about the Holy Spirit ch. 9. 16), Athanasius led. (contr. Arian. orat. 11, n. 18), Eusebius (in Ps. XXXII, 6), etc. “The Holy Spirit is called Christ and Lord; because, says the Apostle: if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he is his, but if Christ dwells in you (Rom. 8, 9. 10), meaning by this to understand that the indwelling of the Spirit is the indwelling of Christ" (Vas. Vel. against Eun. Book V, in Tv. Holy Father VII, 191). “Creation does not sanctify creation, but everything is sanctified by the one Holy One, who says of Himself: I sanctify myself (John 17:19). He sanctifies through the Spirit. Therefore, the Spirit is not a creature, but the image of God’s holiness and the source of holiness for everyone. We are called into the holiness of the Spirit, as the Apostle teaches (2 Thess. 2:13). He renews us and creates us again in the images of God” (Vas. Vel. ibid. p. 192). Cfr. Cyrill. Alex. in Jes. lib. IV, or. II. You might be interested in: