Simeon the New Theologian

From the time of Adam’s banishment from paradise, when we became corruptible and mortal through sin, right up until the present day, not a single human being has ever been free from corruption or death. So if we are to ever regain the original state in which God created us, to become free from corruption, no human free will whatsoever can raise us up to this state. Only the power of God can do this, received by human beings through union with the divine nature.

Simeon the New Theologian (949-1022), The First Created Man, Homily 38, from 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, Part Two: The Middle Ages, by N. R. Needham, p. 141

a new covenant

For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. But showing its fault, God says to them,

Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”

When he speaks of a new covenant, he makes the first obsolete. Now what is growing obsolete and aging is about to disappear. Hebrews 8, NET

Judas, one of the twelve

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said,  “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”  He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. John 12:4-6, ESV

Praise from the past

Hail, O Christ, the Word and Wisdom and Power of God. You Who are God all-powerful! What can we helpless ones give You in return for all these good gifts? For they all come from You, and You demand nothing from us except our salvation, You Who Yourself are the giver of salvation, and yet are grateful to those who receive it through Your unspeakable goodness. Thanks be to You Who gave us life though Your indescribable humility, and granted us the grace of a truly blessed life, restoring it to us when we had gone astray.

On the Orthodox Faith, by John of Damascus (675-749 A.D.)

The Song God Gave to Moses

“Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel. Deut. 31:19-22, ESV

Grace

Appealing to Reformed orthodoxy, Barth underscored the danger in treating grace merely as a gift, especially (as in Roman Catholic teaching) as an infused substance, abstracted from God in Christ. In grace, God gives nothing less than himself. Grace, then, is not a third thing or substance mediating between God and sinners, but is Jesus Christ in redeeming action. “God owes nothing to any counterpart.” In short, “Grace means redemption,” Barth adds. Beyond the love and goodness that God shows to creation generally, grace “is always God’s turning to those who not only do not deserve this favour, but have deserved the very opposite.” In fact, “Grace itself is mercy.”

Horton, Michael S. (2010-12-21). The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way (Kindle Locations 6947-6952). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. 

God's Blessings in a Fallen World

Life is a blessing, but guess what, it’s also a dead end street. God is so gracious to us and the Bible says that through the Lord’s mercies we’re not consumed, because His compassions fail not and they’re new every morning . . . .

Life under the sun as Soloman always talks about in Ecclesisties, life under the sun is really jacked up. It’s just that God’s grace and his mercies are new every morning. So we don’t get to see that, we don’t get to see the soft underbelly of this thing every day. And so when we say God how could you let this happen to me, I say God how could you let me live this life so beautifully for all this time? How could you bless me like you bless me day in and day out, day in and day out? How could you do that?

Kirk Whalum, The Gospel According to Jazz - Chapter III