De gratia

De gratia

Just as the knowledge of the law is about sin, so the gospel is about the promise of grace and righteousness. Therefore, since it has been said about the word of grace and justice, namely, about the gospel, the formulas of grace and justification must be presented here. For this reason, the essence of the Gospel can be understood more fully. Here, it is indeed reasonable to question the Scholastics, who have so shamefully abused the sacred term of grace, as they misuse it in relation to the quality that exists in the souls of the saints, and they pin down the essence of grace to the nature of the soul: faith, hope, and love in the faculties of the soul. And here, how foolishly and how vainly do they quarrel about the powers of the soul? But let the impious and contemptible men of the Gospel suffer their punishment by trifling. You, my reader, should pray that the Spirit of God reveals His gospel to our hearts. The word of the Spirit is such that it cannot be taught except through the Spirit; as Isaiah 54 says, 'All shall be xfeodiddxvovq.' In the letters N. The term 'grace' is almost exclusively used in place of the Hebrew word that the LXX translators rendered as 'xuqiv', as seen in Exodus. You have found grace in my sight, etc. And often, too. It clearly signifies what is meant by grace in Latin. Moreover, Thomas addresses grace in Book II. The question is. They lead to a distinction. To those whom God moves to pursue the eternal supernatural good, He infuses certain forms or qualities beyond natural ones, according to which they are gently and readily moved by Him toward the eternal good; and thus, the gift of grace is something different from the infused virtues, which Didymus of Alexandria discusses in his writings. I. : where grace, which is called the favor of Christ, signifies the form of the soul, as those who dispute say? If only the interpreters had preferred to use the term of grace instead of the term of favor. They would have avoided the opportunity for foolishness. For if there had been an opportunity for foolishness, it would have been in this place. Therefore, just as grammarians say that Julius favors Curio, when they mean that there is favor in Julius that embraces Curio, so in the sacred writings grace designates favor and is grace or favor in God, by which the saints are embraced. Let them cast aside the Aristotelian fictions about qualities. Grace is nothing other than the benevolence of God toward us, or God's merciful will for our sake, if we were to describe it most precisely. Therefore, the term 'grace' does not signify any quality in us, but rather the very will of God or God's benevolence toward us. Paul writes to the Romans. But grace distinguishes itself from a gift: If many died through the offense of one, much more has the grace of God and the gift in grace, which comes through the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many. Grace is called the favor of God, by which He embraced Christ and in Christ and because of Christ all the saints. Then, because He favors them, God cannot help but pour out His gifts upon those He has mercy on. So, the people whom God favors are helped by their circumstances, and He gives them His gifts. The gift of God is the Holy Spirit, whom God pours into the hearts of His people. He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' And to the Romans. You received the spirit of adoption as children, by which we cry out: Abba, Father. Moreover, the works of the Holy Spirit are in the hearts of the saints: faith, peace, joy, love, and so on. , to the Galatians. It's surprising how the Sophists approach this, considering that Peter Longobard called the Holy Spirit grace in one place, rather than that fictitious quality referred to as Parisian. But we simply use this terminology of grace, following the phrasing of Scripture, so that grace may be understood as favor, mercy, and the free benevolence of God toward us. The gift of the Holy Spirit, which He pours into their hearts, belongs to those who are merciful. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are faith, hope, love, and the other virtues. And this indeed is about the name of grace. In summary, grace is nothing other than the forgiveness or remission of sin. The Holy Spirit is the gift that regenerates and sanctifies hearts. According to that, Psalm. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and you will renew the face of the earth. The Gospel promises both grace and the gift. The Scriptures are readily available, and it seems sufficient to point out one passage from Jeremiah. After those days, says the Lord, I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. These words certainly pertain to the gift, to the grace that follows: 'Everyone will know me, from the least of them to the greatest,' says the Lord, 'for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.'^✦