The Spirit's gifts and the baptismal rebirth
Basil is explaining what believers receive from the Holy Spirit and then how baptism in the three names brings rebirth, clothing with Christ, and adoption as children of God.
For we do not receive anything from the Spirit in the way we receive the Spirit from the Son; rather, the Spirit himself comes to us and sanctifies us, and we receive him: a sharing in divinity, a participation in sonship, a guarantee of the eternal inheritance, and the first fruits of the good things to come. Let no one busy himself beyond the sacred names that have been spoken; let no one force the title of Son or generation onto the Spirit, but let him be content with the title and likeness that belong to the Spirit. Since by the grace of the good God, through the remembrance of the words of the only-begotten Son of the living God, and of his holy evangelists and apostles and prophets, who have made sufficiently clear to us the teaching concerning the baptism of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have been instructed that the baptism in fire convicts all wickedness and receives the righteousness that is in Christ, producing hatred of evil and desire for virtue. Through faith we have been cleansed from all sin by the blood of Christ, and when we were baptized in water into the death of the Lord, we deposited, as it were, a written confession: that we have been put to death to sin and to the world, and given life by righteousness. And so, having been baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit, we were born again from above; and having been born, and having been baptized in the name of the Son, we have clothed ourselves with Christ; and having clothed ourselves with the new man, created according to God, we were baptized in the name of the Father and were proclaimed children of God. What remains, then, is for us to be nourished with the food of eternal life, which the same only-begotten Son of the living God again handed over to us, saying: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). And how this comes about he taught when he said: “My food is to do the will of the Father who sent me” (John 4:34); and again: “Amen, amen, I say to you.” Setting this down a second time to confirm what follows and to assure those who hear, he said: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will give him rest on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him” (John 6:53-56). And a little later it is written: “Many therefore, having heard the word of his disciples, said: This word is hard. Who can listen to it? But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them: Does this scandalize you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. My words are spirit and life. But there are some among you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who the believers were, and who it was who would betray him” (John 6:60-65).
Greek
Οὐ γὰρ παρὰ τοῦ Πνεύματός τινα λαμβάνομεν ὥσπερ παρὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὸ Πνεῦμα, ἀλλ' αὐτὸ προσιὸν ἡμῖν καὶ ἁγιάζον ὑποδεχόμεθα· θεότητος κοινωνίαν, καὶ υἱότητος μετουσίαν, καὶ τῆς αἰωνίου κληρονομίας ἀῤῥαβῶνα, καὶ τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν ἀπαρχήν. Μηδέ τις ἐκτὸς τῶν εἰρημένων ἱερῶν ὀνομάτων περιεργα ζέσθω· μηδὲ Υἱοῦ προσηγορίαν ἐπὶ Πνεύματος τιθέναι βιαζέσθω, μηδὲ γέννησιν· ἀλλ' ἀρκείσθω τῇ κατὰ τὸ Πνεῦμα προσηγορίᾳ καὶ ὁμοιώσει. Ἐπεὶ δὲ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ χάριτι, τῇ μνήμῃ τῶν τοῦ μονο γενοῦς Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος ῥημάτων, καὶ τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ εὐαγγελιστῶν τε καὶ ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν, αὐτάρκως ἡμῖν σαφηνισάντων τὸν περὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ βαπτίσματος λόγον, ἐπαιδεύθημεν, ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἐν τῷ πυρὶ βάπτισμα ἐλεγκτικὸν μέν ἐστι πάσης κακίας, δεκτικὸν δὲ τῆς κατὰ Χριστὸν δικαιοσύνης, μῖσος μὲν ἐμποιοῦν τῆς κακίας, ἐπιθυμίαν δὲ τῆς ἀρετῆς· διὰ δὲ τῆς πίστεως ὑπὸ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐκαθαρίσθημεν ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας, ἐν δὲ τῷ ὕδατι βαπτισθέντες εἰς τὸν θάνατον τοῦ Κυρίου, ὥσπερ ἔγγραφον ὁμολογίαν κατεθέμεθα· νενεκρῶσθαι μὲν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ καὶ τῷ κόσμῳ, ἐζωοποιεῖσθαι δὲ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ, καὶ οὕτως ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος βαπτισθέντες, ἄνωθεν ἐγεννήθημεν· γεννηθέντες δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Υἱοῦ βαπτισθέντες, τὸν Χριστὸν ἐνεδυσάμεθα· ἐνδυσάμενοι δὲ τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον, τὸν κατὰ Θεὸν κτισθέντα, ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐβαπτίσθημεν καὶ τέκνα Θεοῦ ἀπηγορεύθημεν. Χρεία οὖν λοιπὸν τρέφεσθαι ἡμᾶς τροφὴν ζωῆς αἰωνίου, ἥντινα παρέδωκεν ἡμῖν πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς μονογενὴς Υἱὸς τοῦ ζῶντος Θεοῦ, εἰπών· «Οὐκ ἐπ' ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος Θεοῦ.» Καὶ πῶς τοῦτο γένηται, ἐδίδαξεν ἐν τῷ εἰπεῖν· «Ἐμὸν βρῶμά ἐστιν, ἵνα ποιῶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με Πατρός·» καὶ πάλιν· «Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν.» Πρὸς βεβαίωσιν τῶν ἐπιφερομένων καὶ πληροφορίαν τῶν ἀκουόντων, ἐκ δευτέρου τοῦτο προθεὶς, φησὶν, ὅτι «Ἐὰν μὴ φάγητε τὴν σάρκα τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ πίητε αὐτοῦ τὸ αἷμα, οὐκ ἔχετε ζωὴν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. Ὁ τρώγων μου τὴν σάρκα, καὶ πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα, ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ. Ἡ γὰρ σάρξ μου ἀληθής ἐστι βρῶσις· καὶ τὸ αἷμά μου ἀληθής ἐστι πόσις. Ὁ τρώγων μου τὴν σάρκα, καὶ πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα, ἐν ἐμοὶ μένει, κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ.» Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα γέγραπται· «Πολλοὶ οὖν, ἀκούσαντες τὸν λόγον τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, εἶπον· Σκληρός ἐστιν ὁ λόγος οὗτος. Τίς δύναται αὐτοῦ ἀκούειν; Εἰδὼς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐν ἑαυτῷ, ὅτι γογγύζουσι περὶ τούτου οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Τοῦτο ὑμᾶς σκανδαλίζει; Ἐὰν οὖν ἴδητε τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀναβαίνοντα ὅπου ἦν τὸ πρότερον; Τὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστι τὸ ζωοποιοῦν· ἡ σὰρξ οὐκ ὠφελεῖ οὐδέν. Τὰ ῥήματά μου πνεῦμά ἐστι καὶ ζωή ἐστιν. Ἀλλ' εἰσί τινες ἐξ ὑμῶν, οἳ οὐ πιστεύουσιν. Ἤδει γὰρ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐξ ἀρχῆς, τίνες εἰσὶν οἱ πιστεύοντες, καὶ τίς ἐστιν ὁ παραδώσων αὐτόν.