If You Believe, He Who Welcomed the Thief Will Welcome You Also
Faith is the assent of the soul to a truth. If you want to know what advantage the soul gains from it, listen to what the Lord says:
‘Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.’ [John 5:24]
How truly great is the goodness of God to the human race!
The righteous in ancient times, in order to find favour with God, had to struggle for many years. They achieved it after having served God for long and with heroic efforts; Jesus grants it to us in an instant.
It is true. If you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Jesus on the cross on Calvary welcomed the thief to Paradise. He will welcome you also.
Cyril of Jerusalem
Catecheses, 5, 8ff. (PG33, 516)
Faith without Works is Dead
Someone may say: ‘I have faith, and faith suffices for salvation.’ St James gives him the answer: ‘Even the demons believe, and shudder. Faith without works is dead.’ [Jas. 2:17-19]
How can we speak of having faith in God and believing what he promises about the future when we do not even believe what he teaches us about the present, about our existence in time?
We have been ensnared by earthly things and we live absorbed in the flesh which makes war on the spirit. True faith in Christ is what they had who welcomed the whole of it into their lives by means of the practical fulfilment of the commandments, saying in effect: ‘I live, yes, but it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.’ [Gal. 2:20]
Maximus the Confessor
Ascetics, 34 (PG90, 940)
~ Thomas Spidlik, Drinking from the Hidden Fountain, A Patristic Breviary: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World
