The Spirit as inheritance, light, fire, and the one good gift
Marcellus is continuing his proof that the Holy Spirit shares the divine works and titles, now arguing from Scripture that the Spirit is the inheritance, the light, the fire, and the good gift that belong to God alone.
“All these things,” Paul says, “are worked by the one and the same Spirit, distributing to each one individually as he wills” (1 Corinthians 12:11). And when the blessed Paul teaches about the Holy Spirit, saying that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of the inheritance, David says that the Lord is the inheritance. “The Lord,” he says, “is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup” (Psalm 16:5). And elsewhere he says, “I cried to you, Lord; I said, ‘You are my hope, my portion in the land of the living’” (Psalm 142:5). Jeremiah says, “He who formed all things is himself the inheritance of Jacob; the Lord is his name” (Jeremiah 10:16). So while the prophets say that the Lord is the inheritance of the saints, Paul says that the Holy Spirit is the inheritance: “In him,” he says, “when you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:13–14). In the same way Moses’ face was sealed with the Holy Spirit when he received the law from God, and none of the sons of Israel could look directly at him, for the light of the Lord’s countenance was marked upon him. As it is also written in the Gospel, “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43). For God is light, and likewise the Son is light, because he is of the same substance as the true light. As Isaiah says, “And the light of Israel will be like fire, and it will sanctify him with a burning flame” (Isaiah 10:17). And in the Gospel John the Baptist says about the Lord, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Elsewhere Scripture says that the Lord is the one who sanctifies: “I am the Lord who sanctifies them” (Leviticus 20:8). And when Scripture calls God fire—“Our God is a consuming fire” (Deuteronomy 4:24)—it says the same about the Holy Spirit: “Divided tongues as of fire appeared to the apostles and rested on each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:3–4). For all who bear the Spirit of God bear light, and those who bear light have put on Christ, and those who have put on Christ have put on the Father. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53). Those who bear the Spirit of God bear incorruption, and God is incorruption. And when David says, “Many say, ‘Who will show us good things?’” (Psalm 4:6), he is speaking about the Holy Spirit. Elsewhere he has said, “The Lord will not withhold good things from those who walk in innocence” (Psalm 84:11). And Matthew speaks this way about the Father: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?” (Matthew 7:11). But Luke, recording the same saying, interprets what the good things are: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:13). For if the Holy Spirit were not of the substance of the only good one, he would not be called good, since the Lord declines to be called good insofar as he became man, saying, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one, God” (Mark 10:18).
Greek
Πάντα δὲ ταῦτα, φησὶν, ἐνεργεῖ τὸ ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ Πνεῦμα, διαιροῦν ἴδια ἑκάστῳ, καθὼς βούλεται. Καὶ ὅτε μὲν ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος διδάσκει περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, ὅτι ἀῤῥαβὼν τῆς κληρονομίας ἐστὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ὁ Δαβὶδ λέγει τὸν Κύριον εἶναι τὴν κληρονομίαν· Κύριος γὰρ, φησὶ, μερὶς τῆς κληρονομίας μου καὶ τοῦ ποτηρίου μου. Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ λέγει· Ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σὲ, Κύριε, εἶπα, σὺ εἶ ἡ ἐλπίς μου, μερίς μου εἶ ἐν γῆ ζώντων. Ὁ δὲ Ἱερεμίας λέγει, ὅτι Ὁ πλάσας τὰ πάντα,αὐτὸς κληρονομία τοῦ Ἰακὼβ, Κύριος ὄνομα αὐτῷ. Τῶν οὖν προφητῶν τὸν Κύριον κληρονομίαν λεγόντων τῶν ἁγίων, ὁ Παῦλος τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα κληρονομίαν εἶναι εἶπεν· Ἐν ᾧ, φησὶ, καὶ πιστεύσαντες, ἐσφραγίσθητε τῷ Πνεύματι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τῷ ἁγίῳ, ὅ ἐστιν ἀῤῥαβὼν τῆς κληρονομίας ἡμῶν· ὡς καὶ Μωσῆς τὸ πρόσωπον ἐσφραγίσθη τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, ὅτε ἔλαβε νόμον παρὰ Θεοῦ, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἠδύνατο αὐτῷ ἀτενίσαι τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ· ἐσημειώθη γὰρ ἐπ' αὐτὸν τὸ φῶς τοῦ προσώπου Κυρίου· ὡς καὶ ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ γέγραπται· Τότε οἱ δίκαιοι ἐκλάμψουσιν ὡς ὁ ἥλιος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ Πατρὸς αὐτῶν. Ὁ Θεὸς γὰρ φῶς ἐστιν· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς φῶς ἐστι, διότι τῆς αὐτῆς οὐσίας ἐστὶ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ φωτὸς, ὡς καὶ Ἡσαΐας λέγει· Καὶ ἔσται τὸ φῶς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὡς πῦρ, καὶ ἁγιάσει αὐτὸν ἐν φλογὶ καιομένῃ. Ἐν δὲ τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ Ἰωάννης ὁ Βαπτιστὴς λέγει περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου· Αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί. Ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ λέγει τὸν Κύριον τὸν ἁγιάζοντα. Ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων αὐτούς. Καὶ ὅτε τὸν Θεὸν καλεῖ πῦρ ἡ Γραφή· Ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν πῦρ καταναλίσκον, ὁμοίως καὶ περὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου λέγει· ὅτι Ὤφθησαν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις διαμεριζόμεναι γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρὸς, ἐκάθισέ τε ἐφ' ἕνα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπλήσθησαν ἅπαντες Πνεύματος ἁγίου, καὶ ἤρξαντο λαλεῖν ἑτέραις γλώσσαις, καθὼς τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐδίδου αὐτοῖς ἀποφθέγγεσθαι. Ὅσοι γὰρ Πνεῦμα Θεοῦ φοροῦσι, φῶς φοροῦσι· καὶ οἱ φοροῦντες φῶς Χριστόν εἰσιν ἐνδεδυμένοι· καὶ οἱ ἐνδεδυμένοι Χριστὸν Πατέρα ἐνδέδυνται. Δεῖ γὰρ τὸ 1012 φθαρτὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀφθαρσίαν, καὶ τὸ θνητὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀθανασίαν. Οἱ γὰρ φοροῦντες τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀφθαρσίαν φοροῦσιν· ἀφθαρσία δέ ἐστιν ὁ Θεός. Καὶ ὅτε λέγει Δαβίδ· Πολλοὶ λέγουσι, Τίς δείξει ἡμῖν τὰ ἀγαθά; περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος λέγει· καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ εἴρηκε· Κύριος οὐχ ὑστερήσει τὰ ἀγαθὰ τοῖς πορευομένοις ἐν ἀκακίᾳ. Καὶ ὁ Ματθαῖος περὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς οὕτω λέγει· Εἰ οὖν ὑμεῖς, πονηροὶ ὄντες, οἴδατε δόματα ἀγαθὰ διδόναι τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς δώσει ἀγαθὰ τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν; Ὁ δὲ Λουκᾶς τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἱστορῶν ἑρμηνεύει, τί ἐστι τὰ ἀγαθὰ, λέγων· Εἰ οὖν ὑμεῖς, πονηροὶ ὄντες, οἴδατε δόματα ἀγαθὰ διδόναι τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς δώσει Πνεῦμα ἅγιον τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν. Εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἦν τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ μόνου ἀγαθοῦ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, οὐκ ἂν ἀγαθὸν ἐκλήθη, ὁπότε ὁ Κύριος παραιτεῖται τὸ καλεῖσθαι ἀγαθὸς, καθὸ ἄνθρωπος γέγονε, λέγων· Τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ Θεός.