Cornelius a Lapide

But as many as received Him , to them gave He power to become the sons of God even to those who believe in His name: i.e., on Himself, for the name signifies the Person of Christ. The pronoun who must be referred, not to sons of God, but to as many . This is plain from the Greek ©7, which is masculine, and must refer to ©*•#, as many , or whosoever , not to rtxta ( children , , or sons), which is neuter. The meaning is, “to as many as have received Christ, that is, to all who believe in His name, He has given power to become sons of God. 11 And so S. John explains himself (i Ep. v. i), “ Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is bom of God.” Power, Greek, i goutf/cu, i.e., dignity, authority, right, that indeed by this very thing, that they receive Christ by faith and by the sacrament of faith, i.e., baptism, or certainly by faith formed by love, which includes the wish for, or desire of baptism, they become at the same time justified, and they are made and are (for the Greek ytridat means both), the adopted sons of God by participation and grace, even as Christ is the natural Son of God by His own Divine Hypostasis. Wherefore Clement of Alexandria (Adhort. ad Gent.) says, that Christ by His Incarnation changed earth into heaven, and of men made angels, yea gods, and therefore that He is the beautiful charioteer who drives to heaven, to a blessed immortality, the chariot, whose two horses are the Jews and the Gentiles. Therefore the word t%ouoia, power } signifies both the dignity of the Digitized by V^rOOQie CO-OPERATION OF MAN S WILL. 3 7 Divine adoption, and the liberty of our will freely to embrace it For He does not say, He made them to be sons of God but He gave them power, le. 9 free will to become sons of God, if, that is, they will freely to believe in, and obey Him. Calvin and Beza deny this, but Augustine asserts it (de Spirit et Lit c. 31). “For,” he says, “we call this power, where the faculty of performing is added to the will Wherefore every one is said to have in his power that which if he wills to do, he does, which if he wills not to do, he does not” S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius, Bede, and others, assert the same thing continually. Hear S. Chrysostom, “ Like as if fire shall touch metalliferous earth, it immediately turns it into gold, so much more does baptism make those whom it washes to be gold instead of clay. For the Holy Ghost, as it were fire, in that same hour that He enters our hearts, takes away our likeness to earth, and makes us to have a heavenly likeness new and bright, and shining as in a furnace. And why did He not say, He made us to become the sons of God l It was that he might show that we have need of great diligence, that we may keep pure and un defiled the mark of adoption stamped upon us by baptism. Moreover because no one is able to take away this power from us unless we shall first take it away from ourselves.” You will say, faith equally with adoption is the gift of God, therefore it cannot be at the disposal of man’s wilL I reply by denying the inference. For God does not bestow faith, hope, and charity and other virtues and gifts of His upon men against their will, or as unreasoning beings, but as reasonable creatures, co-operating freely with Him. For this is what S. John here says, God has given power to become sons of God to those who freely receive Christ by faith and obedience, excluding those who are unwilling to receive Him. “Power is given that they who believe in Him may become sons of God, since this very thing is given that they may believe in Him,” says S. Augustine (lib. 1. contr. 2. epist Pelag. c. 3). And this is given by God, when He so by His grace illuminates and influences the soul of man as freely herself to consent and believe. To become the sons of God How this is wrought, and how great is the dignity of this adoption, I have shown on Hosea L 10, upon Digitized by V^rOOQie 38 the words, “ It shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” Wherefore Cyril saith, ‘‘Let us rise to our supernatural dignity through Christ, — not indeed that we should be sons of God by nature as He is, but that, through likeness to Him, we may be sons of God by grace.”