Section CCIV

And there is indeed reason why all should be of uplifted spirit and promise themselves every best thing from divine clemency. “For the crown and glory of the cross¹, ἐφωταγώγησε μὲν τοὺς ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ τυφλούς, ἔλυσε δὲ πάντας τοὺς ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατεχομένους, καὶ κόσμον ὅλον ἀνθρώπων ἐλυτρώσατο, illuminated those who were blind through ignorance, released all who were held under sin, and redeemed the whole world of men.” For he endured all things for this reason², that ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ πάντων, he came for the salvation of all. For this reason he sustained all things³, that he willed to pacify⁴ through the blood of the cross those things that are in heaven and those that are on earth. “For we were enemies of God through sin, and God decreed that the sinner must die. It was therefore necessary that one of two things occur: either that God, remaining consistent with himself, should destroy all, or that, employing clemency, he should dissolve the sentence that had been passed. Ἀλλὰ βλέπε Θεοῦ σοφίαν· ἐτήρησεν καὶ τῇ ἀποφάσει τὴν ἀλήθειαν, καὶ τῇ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τὴν ἐνέργειαν. But behold the wisdom of God: he preserved both the truth of the sentence and the efficacy of benignity—

—Admire, therefore, the wisdom of God: he preserved both the firmness of his sentence and the efficacy of goodness. Christ took up sins⁵ in his body upon the tree, that we, dead to sins through his death, might live to justice. He who died for us was of no small price; he was not a perceptible sheep; he was not a mere man; he was not merely an angel, ἀλλὰ Θεὸς ἐνανθρωπήσας, but God made man. The iniquity of sinners was not so great as the justice of him who died for our sake; we did not sin so greatly as he excelled in justice who laid down his life for us.” But did he lay it down for all? Neither does the course of the discourse permit us to think otherwise, nor do these words bear another meaning⁶, ἔπαθεν οὖν Ἰησοῦς κατ᾽ ἀλήθειαν ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, Jesus therefore truly suffered for all men; nor those in which he makes mention⁷ of the Only-begotten Son of God and our Savior, τοῦ τὴν οἰκουμενικὴν, κατὰ τὰς θείας γραφάς, ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις τελέσαντος σωτηρίαν, who according to the divine Scriptures accomplished at Jerusalem the salvation of the whole world.

By this altogether infinite largess of divine mercy it has been brought about that no one may lawfully lay aside the hope of salvation; that grace, and indeed varied and manifold grace for returning to soundness, may be present to all; that God may long-sufferingly await a will aroused by his light and inflamed by his fire; and that he altogether abandons and spurns no one unless the present life has been completed and the course of mortality finished. Cyril fittingly says⁸: μὴ ἀπόγνωμεν ἑαυτούς, μὴ ἀπορρίψωμεν ἑαυτοὺς εἰς ἀνέλπιστον κατάστασιν, let us not cast ourselves down; let us not give ourselves over to despair. For if, whoever you are, O man, you too strive and do not withdraw your effort⁹, οὐ κεκώλυταί σοι ἡ χάρις, grace will not be withheld from you. Indeed, varied and manifold grace will be at hand. For¹⁰, ἑκάστῳ ποικίλος ὁ Σωτὴρ γίνεται πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον· τοῖς μὲν—

—γὰρ εὐφροσύνης χρείαν ἔχουσιν, ἄμπελος γίνεται· τοῖς δὲ χρείαν ἔχουσιν εἰσελθεῖν, ἕστηκε θύρα· καὶ τοῖς χρείαν ἔχουσι προσενέγκαι τὰς εὐχάς, ἕστηκε μεσίτης ἀρχιερεύς· πάλιν τοῖς ἔχουσιν ἁμαρτίας γίνεται πρόβατον, ἵνα ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν σφαγιασθῇ· τοῖς πᾶσι γίνεται πάντα, μένων αὐτὸς κατὰ φύσιν ὅπερ ἐστί, the Savior becomes manifold for each according to what is profitable for him. For those who need gladness, he becomes a vine; for those who need to enter, he stands as a door; and for those who need to offer prayers, he stands as mediator and high priest. Again, for those who have sins, he becomes a sheep, that he may be slaughtered for them. He becomes all things to all, while himself remaining according to nature what he is. Now he assumes so many forms for this reason¹¹, that ὁ Θεὸς δαψιλής ἐστιν εἰς εὐεργεσίαν· περιμένει δὲ ἑκάστου τὴν γνησίαν προαίρεσιν. Διὰ τοῦτο ἐπήγαγεν ὁ Ἀπόστολος λέγων, τοῖς κατὰ πρόθεσιν κλητοῖς οὖσιν· ἡ πρόθεσις γνησία οὖσα, κλητόν σε ποιεῖ, God is liberal in beneficence; but he awaits each one’s sincere will. For this reason the Apostle added¹², “to those who are called according to purpose.” When a sincere purpose is present, it causes you to be called. God awaits this sincere purpose for as long as¹³ we abide in this mortality; and τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ συνεστῶτος, while the contest still stands in this world, just as πάντων τῶν ἀγωνιστῶν τὸ τέλος ἐνδέχεται, he awaits the end of all the contestants, so he crowns no one and utterly casts away and condemns no one.