Paul's Words in Scripture are Christ's Words (2) - Chrysostom

Hear what Paul had to say. And when I speak of Paul, I mean Christ; for it is Christ who moved Paul's soul to speak. Fathers of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, Discourses Against Judaizing Christians, translated by Paul W. Harkins, Discourse III, section IV, paragraph 2 (p. 59)

Justification by One's Own Efforts will Result in Condemnation - Chrysostom

But someone might say: "Is there so much harm in circumcision that it makes Christ's whole plan of redemption useless?" Yes, the harm of circumcision is as great as that, not because of its own nature but because of your obstinacy. There was a time when the law was useful and necessary, but now it has ceased and is fruitless. If you take it on yourself to be circumcised now, when the time is no longer right, it makes the gift of God useless. It is because you are not willing to come to him that Christ will be of no advantage to you. Suppose someone should be caught in the act of adultery and the foulest crimes and then be thrown into prison. Suppose, next, that judgment was going to be passed against him and that he would be condemned. Suppose that just at that moment a letter should come from the Emperor setting free from any accounting or examination all those detained in prison. If the prisoner should refuse to take advantage of the pardon, remain obstinate and choose to be brought to trial, to give an account, and to undergo punishment, he will not be able thereafter to avail himself of the Emperor's favor. For when he made himself accountable to the court, examination, and sentence, he chose of his own accord to deprive himself of the imperial gift. This is what has happened in the case of the Jews. Look how it is. All human nature was taken in the foulest evils. "All have sinned," (Romans 3:23) says Paul. They were locked, as it were, in a prison by the curse of their transgression of the Law. The sentence of the judge was going to be passed against them. A letter from the King came down from heaven. Rather, the King himself came. Without examination, without exacting an account, he set all men free from the chains of their sin. All, then, who run to Christ are saved by his grace and profit from his gift. But those who wish to find justification from the Law will also fall from grace. They will not be able to enjoy the King's loving-kindness because they are striving to gain salvation by their own efforts; they will draw down on themselves the curse of the Law because from the works of the Law no flesh will find justification. So it is that Paul says: "If you be circumcised, Christ will be of no advantage to you." (Galatians 5:2) For the man who strives to gain salvation from the works of the Law has nothing in common with grace. This is what Paul hinted at when he said: "If out of grace, then not in virtue of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace: otherwise work is no longer work." (Romans 11:6 with a textual variant) And again: "If justice be by the Law, then Christ died in vain" (Galatians 2:21). And again: "You who are justified in the Law are fallen from grace" (Galatians 5:4). You have died to the Law, you have become a corpse; hereafter you are no longer under its yoke, you are are no longer subject to its necessity. Why, then, do you strive to make trouble for yourself when it is all to no purpose and in vain? Fathers of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, Discourses Against Judaizing Christians, translated by Paul W. Harkins, Discourse II, section I, paragraph 6, to section II, paragraph 1 (pp. 37-39)

Paul's Words in Scripture are Christ's Words - Chrysostom

If they hear the shout of Paul, I am sure that they will easily fall into the nets of salvation and will put aside all the error of the Jews. For it is not Paul who spoke, but Christ, who moved Paul's soul. So when you hear him shout and say: "Behold, I, Paul, tell you," (Galatians 5:2) consider that only the shout is Paul's; the thought and the teaching are Christ's, who is speaking to Paul from within his heart. Fathers of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, Discourses Against Judaizing Christians, translated by Paul W. Harkins, Discourse II, section I, paragraph 5 (p. 37)

God Hates Musical Instruments in Worship

Do you wish to see that God hates worship paid with kettledrums, with lyres, with harps, and other instruments? God said: "Take away from me the sound of your songs and I will not hear the canticle of your harps." (Amos 5:23) If God said: "Take them away from me," do you run to listen to their trumpets? ... Do you wish to learn that, together with the sacrifices and the musical instruments and the festivals and the incense, God also rejects the temple because of those who enter it? He showed this mostly by his deeds, when he gave it over to barbarian hands, and later when he utterly destroyed it. Fathers of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, Discourses Against Judaizing Christians, translated by Paul W. Harkins, Discourse I, section VII, paragraphs 2 and 4 (pp. 26 and 27)

Scripture Led Chrysostom to Christ

Finally, if the ceremonies of the Jews move you to admiration, what do you have in common with us? If the Jewish ceremonies are venerable and great, ours are lies. But if ours are true, as they are true, theirs are filled with deceit. I am not speaking of the Scriptures. Heaven forbid! It was the Scriptures which took me by the hand and led me to Christ. But I am talking about the ungodliness and present madness of the Jews. Fathers of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, Discourses Against Judaizing Christians, translated by Paul W. Harkins, Discourse I, section VI, paragraph 5 (pp. 23-24)

Reading Scriptures in Unbelief is More Godless than Martyring the Martyrs

Why do I speak about the books and the synagogues? In time of persecution, the public executioners lay hold of the bodies of the martyrs, they scourge them, and tear them to pieces. Does it make the executioners' hands holy because they lay hold of the bodies of holy men? Heaven forbid! The hands which grasped and held the bodies of the holy ones stay unholy. Why? Because those executioners did a wicked thing when they laid their hands upon the holy. And will those who handle and outrage the writings of the holy ones be any more venerable for this than those who executed the martyrs? Would that not be the ultimate foolishness? If the maltreated bodies of the martyrs do not sanctify those who maltreated them but even add to their blood-guilt, much less could Scriptures, if read without belief, ever help those who read without believing. The very act of deliberately choosing to maltreat the Scriptures convicts them of greater godlessness. Fathers of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, Discourses Against Judaizing Christians, translated by Paul W. Harkins, Discourse I, section V, paragraph 5 (pp. 19-20)