Lecture 6 — Belief in the Son

^3:32^ And he testifies to what he has seen and heard: and no man receives his testimony. [n. 536]

^3:33^ He who has received his testimony has given a sign that God is true. [n. 538]

^3:34^ For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God: for God does not give the Spirit by measure. [n. 540]

^3:35^ The Father loves the Son, and he has given all things into his hand. [n. 545]

^3:36^ He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God rests on him. [n. 546]

535. Above, John the Baptist commended the teaching of Christ; here, however, he considers the difference in those who receive it. Thus, he treats of the faith that must be given to this teaching. And he does three things.

First, he shows the scarcity of those who believe.

Second, the obligation to believe, at he who has received his testimony.

Lastly, the reward for belief, at he who believes in the Son has eternal life.

536. He says therefore: I say that Christ has certain knowledge and that he speaks the truth. Yet although few accept his testimony, that is no reflection on his teaching, because it is not the fault of the teaching but of those who do not accept it: namely, the disciples of John, who did not yet believe, and the Pharisees, who slandered his teaching. Thus he says, and no man receives his testimony.

537. No man can be explained in two ways. In the first way, no man implies a few; and so some did accept his testimony. He shows that some did accept it when he adds, and he who has received his testimony. The Evangelist used this way of speaking before when he said: he came unto his own, and his own did not receive him (John 1:11): because a few did receive him. In another way, to accept his testimony is understood as to believe in God. But no one can believe of himself, but only due to God: you are saved by grace (Eph 2:8). And so he says, no man receives, i.e., of himself, but it is given to him by God.

This can be explained in another way by realizing that Scripture refers to people in two ways. As long as we are in this world the wicked are mingled with the good; and so Scripture sometimes speaks of the people, or they, meaning those who are good; while at other times, the same words can refer to the wicked. We can see this: for first it says that all the people and the priests sought to kill Jeremiah (Jer 26), and this referred to those who were evil; then at once it says that all the people sought to free him, and this referred to those who were good. In the same way, John the Baptist says, looking to the left, i.e., toward those who are evil, and no man receives his testimony; and later, referring to those on the right, i.e., to the good, he says, but he who has received his testimony.

538. He who has received his testimony. Here he speaks of the obligation to believe, i.e., to submit oneself to divine truth.

As to this he does four things.

First, he presents the divine truth.

Second, he speaks of the proclamation of the divine truth, at for he whom God has sent speaks the words of God.

Third, of the ability to proclaim it, at for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

Fourth, he gives the reason for this ability, at the Father loves the Son.

539. Man’s obligation to the faith is to submit himself to divine truth, and so he says that if few accept his testimony that means that some do. Hence he says, he who has received his testimony, i.e., whoever he may be, has given a sign, i.e., he ought to affix a certain sign or has in fact placed a seal in his own heart, that Christ is God. And he is true, because he said that he is God. If he were not, he would not be true, but it is written: God is true (Rom 3:4). Concerning this seal it is said: set me as a seal on your heart (Song 8:6), and the foundation of God stands firm, bearing a seal (2 Tim 2:19).

Or, following Chrysostom, he has given a sign, i.e., he has shown that God, that is, the Father, is true, because he sent his Son whom he promised to send. The Evangelist says this to show that those who do not believe Christ deny the truthfulness of the Father.

540. Then immediately he adds a commendation of divine truth, saying, for he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. As if to say: this is a sign, namely, that Christ, whose testimony he accepts, he whom God has sent, speaks the words of God; and therefore he who believes in him believes the Father: the things that I have heard from him are the same that I speak to the world (John 8:26). So he spoke of nothing but the Father and the words of the Father, because he has been sent by the Father, and because he himself is the Word of the Father. Hence, he says that he even bespeaks the Father.

Or, if the statement God is true refers to Christ, we understand the distinction of persons; for since the Father is true God, and Christ is true God, it follows that the true God sent the true God, who is distinct from him in person, but not in nature.

541. The ability to proclaim divine truth is present in Christ in the highest degree, because he does not receive the Spirit in a partial way; and so he says, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

You might say that although God sent Christ, yet not all that Christ says is from God, but only some of the things; for even the prophets spoke at times from their own spirit, and at other times from the Spirit of God. For example, we read that the prophet Nathan (2 Sam 7:3), speaking out of his own spirit, advised David to build a temple, but that later, under the influence of the Spirit of God, he retracted this. However, the Baptist shows that such is not the case with Christ. For the prophets receive the Spirit of God only fractionally, i.e., in reference to some things, but not as to all things. Consequently, not all they say are the words of God. But Christ, who received the Spirit fully and in regards to all things, speaks the words of God as to all things.

542. But how can the Holy Spirit be given according to measure since he is immense or infinite, according to the Creed of Athanasius: immense is the Father, immense the Son, immense the Holy Spirit?

I answer that it is said that the Holy Spirit is given according to measure, not in respect to his essence or power, according to which he is infinite, but as to his gifts, which are given according to measure: grace has been given to each of us according to degree (Eph 4:7).

543. We should note that we can understand in two ways what is said here, namely, that God the Father did not give the Spirit to Christ in a partial way. We can understand it as applying to Christ as God, and, in another way, as applying to Christ as man. Something is given to someone in order that he may have it: and it is appropriate to Christ to have the Spirit, both as God and as man. And so he has the Holy Spirit with respect to both. As man, Christ has the Holy Spirit as Sanctifier: the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me (Isa 6 1:1), namely, as man. But as God, he has the Holy Spirit only as manifesting himself, inasmuch as the Spirit proceeds from him: he will glorify me, that is, make me known, because he will receive of me (John 16:14).

Therefore, both as God and as man, Christ has the Holy Spirit beyond measure. For God the Father is said to give the Holy Spirit without measure to Christ as God, because he gives to Christ the power and might to bring forth the Holy Spirit, who, since he is infinite, was infinitely given to him by the Father: for the Father gives it just as he himself has it, so that the Holy Spirit proceeds from him as much as from the Son. And he gave him this by an everlasting generation. Similarly, Christ as man has the Holy Spirit without measure, for the Holy Spirit is given to different men in differing degrees, because grace is given to each by measure. But Christ as man did not receive a certain amount of grace; and so he did not receive the Holy Spirit in any limited degree.

544. It should be noted, however, that there are three kinds of grace in Christ: the grace of union, the grace of a singular person, which is habitual, and capital grace, which is animating. And Christ received each of these graces without measure.

The grace of union, which is not habitual grace, but a certain gratuitous gift, is given to Christ in order that in his human nature he be the true Son of God, not by participation, but by nature, insofar as the human nature of Christ is united to the Son of God in person. This union is called a grace because he had it without any preceding merits. Now the divine nature is infinite; hence from that union he received an infinite gift. Thus it was not by degree or measure that he received the Holy Spirit, i.e., the gift and grace of union which, as gratuitous, is attributed to the Holy Spirit.

His grace is termed habitual insofar as the soul of Christ was full of grace and wisdom: the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). We might wonder if Christ did receive this grace without measure. For since such grace is a created gift, we must admit that it has a finite essence. Therefore, as far as its essence is concerned, since it is something created, this habitual grace was finite. Yet Christ is not said to have received this in a limited degree for three reasons.

First, because of the one who is receiving the grace. For it is plain that each thing’s nature has a finite capacity, because even though one might receive an infinite good by knowing, loving and enjoying it, nevertheless one receives it by enjoying it in a finite way. Further, each creature has, according to its species and nature, a finite amount of capacity. But this does not make it impossible for the divine power to make another creature possessing a greater capacity; but then such a creature would not be of a nature which is specifically the same, just as when one is added to three, there is another species of number. Therefore, when some nature is not given as much of the divine goodness as its natural capacity is able to contain, then it is seen to be given to it by measure; but when its total natural capacity is filled, it is not given to it by measure, because even though there is a measure on the part of the one receiving, there is none on the part of the one giving, who is prepared to give all. Thus, if someone takes a pail to a river, he sees water present without measure, although he takes the water by measure on account of the limited dimensions of the pail. Thus, the habitual grace of Christ is indeed finite according to its essence, but it is said to be given in an infinite way and not by measure or partially, because as much was given to him as created nature was able to hold.

Second, Christ did not receive habitual grace in a limited way by considering the gift which is received. For every form or act, considered in its very nature, is not finite in the way in which it is made finite by the subject in which it is received. Nevertheless, there is nothing to prevent it from being finite in its essence, insofar as its existence is received in some subject. For that is infinite according to its essence which has the entire fullness of being: and this is true of God alone, who is the supreme being. But if we consider some spiritual form as not existing in a subject, for example, whiteness or color, it would not be infinite in essence, because its essence would be confined to some genus or species; nevertheless it would still possess the entire fullness of that species. Thus, considering the nature of the species, it would be without limit or measure, since it would have everything that can pertain to that species. But if whiteness or color should be received into some subject, it does not always have everything that pertains necessarily and always to the nature of this form, but only when the subject has it as perfectly as it is capable of being possessed, i.e., when the way the subject possesses it is equivalent to the power of the thing possessed. Thus, Christ’s habitual grace was finite according to its essence; yet it is said to have been in him without a limit or measure because he received everything that could pertain to the nature of grace. Others, however, do not receive all this, but one receives in one way, and another in another way: there are different graces (1 Cor 12:4).

The third reason for saying that the habitual grace of Christ was not received in a limited way is based on its cause. For an effect is in some way present in its cause. Therefore, if someone has an infinite power to produce something, he is said to have what can be produced without measure and, in a way, infinitely. For example, if someone has a fountain which could produce an infinite amount of water, he would be said to have water in an infinite way and without measure. Thus, the soul of Christ has infinite grace and grace without measure from the fact that he has united to himself the Word, which is the infinite and unfailing source of the entire emanation of all created things.

From what has been said, it is clear that the grace of Christ which is called capital grace, insofar as he is head of the Church, is infinite in its influence. For from the fact that he possessed that from which the gifts of the Spirit could flow out without measure, he received the power to pour them out without measure, so that the grace of Christ is sufficient not merely for the salvation of some men, but for all the people of the entire world: he is the offering for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the entire world (1 John 2:2), and even for many worlds, if they exsited.

545. Christ also had the ability appropriate for declaring divine truth, because all things are in his power; hence he says, the Father loves the Son, and he has given all things into his hand. This can refer to Christ both as man and as God, but in different ways.

If it refers to Christ according to his divine nature, then loves does not indicate a principle but a sign: for we cannot say that the Father gives all things to the Son because he loves him. There are two reasons for this. First, because to love is an act of the will; but to give a nature to the Son is to generate him. Therefore, if the Father gave a nature to the Son by his will, the will of the Father would be the principle of the generation of the Son; and then it would follow that the Father generated the Son by will, and not by nature; and this is the Arian heresy.

Second, because the love of the Father for the Son is the Holy Spirit. So, if the love of the Father for the Son were the reason why the Father put everything into his hands, it would follow that the Holy Spirit would be the principle of the generation of the Son; and this is not acceptable. Therefore, we should say that love implies only a sign. As if to say: The perfect love with which the Father loves the Son, is a sign that the Father has given all things into his hand, i.e., everything which the Father has: all things have been given to me by my Father (Matt 11:27); Jesus, knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands (John 13:3).

But if loves refers to Christ as man, then it implies the notion of a principle, so that the Father is said to have put everything into the hands of the Son, everything, that is, that is in heaven and on earth: all authority has been given to me, in heaven and on earth (Matt 28:18); he has appointed him the heir of all things (Heb 1:2). And the reason why the Father gives to the Son is because he loves the Son; hence he says, the Father loves the Son, for the Father’s love is the reason for creating each creature: you love everything which exists, and hate nothing which you have made (Wis 11:25). Concerning his love for the Son we read: this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt 3:17); he has brought us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, that is, i.e., of his beloved Son (Col 1:13).

546. Then when he says, he who believes in the Son has eternal life he shows the fruit of faith.

First, he sets forth the reward for faith.

Second, the penalty for unbelief, at he who does not believe in the Son.

547. The reward for faith is beyond our comprehension, because it is eternal life. Hence he says, he who believes in the Son has eternal life. And this is shown from what has already been said. For if the Father has given everything he has to the Son, and the Father has eternal life, then he has given to the Son to be eternal life: for as the Father has life in himself, so he has also given to the Son to have life in himself (John 5:26): and this belongs to Christ insofar as he is the true and natural Son of God. That you may be in his true Son, Christ. This is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20).Whoever believes in the Son has that toward which he tends, that is, the Son, in whom he believes. But the Son is eternal life; therefore, whoever believes in him has eternal life: my sheep hear my voice . . . and I give them eternal life (John 10:27–28).

548. The penalty for unbelief is unendurable, both as to the punishment of loss and as to the punishment of sense.

As to the punishment of loss, because it deprives one of life; hence he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life. He does not say, will not have, but shall not see, because eternal life consists in the vision of the true life: this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (John 17:3): and unbelievers will not have this vision and this knowledge: let him not see the brooks of honey (Job 20:19), that is, the sweetness of eternal life. And he says, will not see, because to see life itself is the proper reward for faith united with love.

As to the punishment of sense, because one is being severely punished; he says: the wrath of God rests on him. For in the Scriptures wrath indicates the pain with which God punishes the evil. So when he says, the wrath of God, the Father, rests on him, it is the same as saying: they will feel punishment from God the Father. Although the Father has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22), the Baptist refers this to the Father in order to lead the Jews to believe in the Son. Concerning this judgment it is said: it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:31). He says, rests on him, because this punishment will never be absent from the unbelieving, and because all who are born into this mortal life have God’s anger with them, which was first received by Adam: we were by nature, that is, through birth, children of anger (Eph 2:3). And we are freed from this anger only by faith in Christ; and so those who do not believe in Christ, the Son of God, remain in the wrath of God.