🇬🇧 Glory be to Jesus Christ! 🌞
Paul says that faith precedes works. The story of Abraham is a special proof of this. It was his faith that was counted as righteousness, not his circumcision, but he was circumcised for the sake of faith.
Therefore, true good faith is a kind of germ
of good deeds, just as
sincere, genuine love is the root from which only good fruit will
grow,
as Blessed Augustine says (if I am not mistaken in the
authorship).
Speaking of imputation of righteousness
, we are talking about God’s
foresight: even when Abraham did not perform works, God, having given
him faith, which he accepted and kept, knew that it would later result
in works. We discussed this in more detail in Lent, when we read the
story of Abraham from Genesis.
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Also:
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And so, not just any person who believes is called blessed, but the one in God’s foreknowledge of whom God knows that he or she will bear the fruits of repentance, or that he or she has truly repented and will not sin. And the sign of such God’s mercy is the true faith that He grants.
Today we read the Gospel, where in the Sermon on the Mount Christ speaks about false prophets, or in modern language, about false spirituality.
The verses of Matthew VII, 17-18 are the most rich in semantic
nuances, which in Greek have the following meaning literally: Every
tree that is good in a broad sense, naturally, truly good, produces
beautiful, noble, good, masterpiece fruit, but a damaged, bad, corrupt
tree produces bad, harmful fruit. A good (in the broad sense, naturally,
really good) tree does not have the power (cannot, is not capable) to
produce bad, harmful fruits, nor does a damaged, spoiled, bad tree
produce beautiful, noble, good, masterpiece fruits.
By fruit
here we
mean something new in general
that did not exist before. Example: the
author of a masterpiece in art cannot be ignorant
or incapable of
art
. Fruits
carry a higher degree of characteristics than human
creators. That is why everyone wants to have good fruitful trees. And if
a tree does not have beautiful fruit, then the unreliable position of
such a tree in the garden can be uprooted upon inspection.
With regard to Matthew VII, 21, it is not enough to be a Christian in
name only, nor is it enough to surround oneself with Christian
traditions, customs, attributes, and symbols, but it is important to do
God’s will for salvation. Although the latter can also lead to salvation
if it is the fulfilment of God’s will. For example, many martyrs gave
their lives for confessing the very name of Christians. But as we read
the day before yesterday, such a confession of faith in Christ leads to
recognition by Christ Himself and salvation. See:
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In general, the reading balances
the Apostle’s reading. While the
Apostle today speaks more about faith, the Gospel speaks more about
works. Both are important for salvation. We can also say this: if you
have works, but do not have true faith, take care to cognise the truth
and gain true faith. If you have true faith, but do not have works, then
take care to gain good works through faith (in faith).
There are additional words in the parallel passage in the Gospel of
John:
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St John Chrysostom also says that on the Bright Day of Christ’s
Resurrection, let no one grieve over their sins, for forgiveness has
shone from the grave
. Recalling today’s words of the Saviour, he says:
Even if the wolf says to you: ‘Christ is risen,’ answer him: He is
risen indeed!
.
See this link for more information:
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/teachings/st-john-chrysostom-easter-homily-203
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!