§736By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear "the fruit of the Spirit: . . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."129 "We live by the Spirit"; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we "walk by the Spirit."130 Through the Holy Spirit we are restore…

§1108In every liturgical action the Holy Spirit is sent in order to bring us into communion with Christ and so to form his Body. the Holy Spirit is like the sap of the Father's vine which bears fruit on its branches.26 The most intimate cooperation of the Holy Spirit and the Church is achieved in the liturgy. the Spirit who is the Spirit of communion, abides indefectibly in the Chur…

§1695"Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God,"13 "sanctified . . . (and) called to be saints,"14 Christians have become the temple of the Holy Spirit.15 This "Spirit of the Son" teaches them to pray to the Father16 and, having become their life, prompts them to act so as to bear "the fruit of the Spirit"17 by charity in action. Healing the wounds…

Treats upon the actions of carnal and of spiritual persons; also, that the spiritual cleansing is not to be referred to the substance of our bodies, but to the manner of our former life. 1. [The apostle], foreseeing the wicked speeches of unbelievers, has particularized the works which he terms carnal; and he explains himself, lest any room for doubt be left to those who do dis…

2. And though he seem to have spoken but one single thing, yet His sayings are three, Let him renounce himself, and Let him bear his cross, and Let him follow me; and two of them are joined together, but the one is put by itself. But let us see first what it can be to deny one's self. Let us learn first what it is to deny another, and then we shall know what it may be to deny o…

1. We need everywhere works and actions, not a mere show of words. For to say and to promise is easy for any one, but to act is not equally easy. Why have I made these remarks? Because there are many at this time who say that they fear and love God, but in their works show the contrary; but God requires that love which is shown by works. Wherefore He said to the disciples, If y…

1. Nothing is wont so to cast down the soul that is anguished and possessed by deep despondency, as when words which cause pain are continually dwelt upon. Why then did Christ, after saying, I go, and, Hereafter I will not speak with you, continually dwell on the same subject, saying, A little while, and you shall not see Me, because I go to Him that sent Me? When He had recove…

Source. Translated by J. Walker, J. Sheppard and H. Browne, and revised by George B. Stevens. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 11. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210201.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Adven…

§66There is no doubt that Christian moral teaching, even in its Biblical roots, acknowledges the specific importance of a fundamental choice which qualifies the moral life and engages freedom on a radical level before God. It is a question of the decision of faith, of the obedience of faith (cf. Rom 16:26) "by which man makes a total and free self-commitment to God, offering 'the …

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. The Christian is simultaneously righteous and a sinner — righteous in Christ through faith, yet still a sinner in his own nature…

It was said of Abba John the Dwarf that he withdrew and lived in the desert at Scetis with an old man of Thebes. His master, taking a piece of dry wood, planted it, and said to him, "Water it every day with a bottle of water, until it bears fruit." Now the water was so far away that he had to leave in the evening and return the following morning. At the end of three years the w…

Christ is our righteousness. From that it follows that our works, insofar as they are good, are of Christ; but insofar as they are ours, they are neither right nor good. The property of a Christian is not to argue and fight but to do works of love, since no one is bound to do things God has not decreed.

Affections that are truly spiritual and gracious arise from those influences and operations on the heart which are spiritual, supernatural, and divine. The Spirit of God is given to the true saints to dwell in them as His proper lasting abode, and to influence their hearts as a new supernatural principle of life and action.

Q. But doesn't this teaching make people indifferent and wicked? A. No. It is impossible for those grafted into Christ by true faith not to produce fruits of gratitude.

Q. Since we have been delivered from our misery by grace through Christ without any merit of our own, why then should we do good works? A. Because Christ, having redeemed us by his blood, is also restoring us by his Spirit into his image, so that with our whole lives we may show that we are thankful to God for his benefits, so that he may be praised through us, so that we may b…

We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.

Although good works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's judgment; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and spring out of a true and lively faith, insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree is discerned by its fruit.