2 Timothy 2:13 Douay-Rheims

If we believe not, he continueth faithful, he can not deny himself.

John Chrysostom

A.D. 347–407 Patristic

What then meaneth, "Can do nothing of Himself"? That He can do nothing in opposition to the Father, nothing alien from, nothing strange to Him, which is especially the assertion of One declaring an Equality and entire agreement.

But wherefore said He not, that "He doeth nothing contrary," instead of, "He cannot do"? It was that from this again He might show the invariableness and exactness of the Equality, for the expression imputes not weakness to Him, but even shows His great power; since in another place Paul saith of the Father, "That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie" (Heb. vi. 18): and again, "If we deny Him - He abideth faithful," for "He cannot deny Himself." (2 Tim. ii. 12, 2 Tim. ii. 13.) And in truth this expression, "impossible," is not declaratory of weakness, but power, power unspeakable. For what He saith is of this kind, that "that Essence admitteth not such things as these." For just as when we also say, "it is impossible for God to do wrong," we do not impute to Him any weakness, but confess in Him an unutterable power; so when He also saith, "I can of Mine own Self do nothing," His meaning is, that "it is impossible, nature admits not, that I should do anything contrary to the Father."

Source details
A.D. 407 · on 2Tim 2:13 (Homily on John 38)

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.

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