Grace, Virtue, and the Increase of Faith

It was thought and regretted as if regarding an unchangeable mind. For just as men, wishing to present a confession to those being taught by themselves that they erred greatly and are unworthy of lessons, say: 'I regretted that I gave so much to you, leading you to the knowledge of the transgression,' so also God is said to not undergo a passion of regret, but rather to speak for the sake of the manifestation of the greatness of the sin. For He did not not know that such things would be, but through goodness He viewed whether perhaps from the laws written according to the intellect they would follow. We use an image toward it not being a passion of God, but of those who change in such a way.

Let someone be wise... gaps... and because of this an heir... gaps... he himself did not change according to the mind among those changed, when the property came to the righteous alone; for this one had the purpose from the beginning. And good is 'I will blot out the man whom I have made from the face of the earth' (Gen 1:28); for He does not lead him into non-existence, nor does He blot him out according to the soul, but from the earth. And this is not only the work of God, having been deceived by evil, to destroy men, but also through a sign to destroy the one dwelling in the earth being a lowly one; for the lowly one is a resident of the earth, the holy one being not a resident but a sojourner. Thus also it is said in Jeremiah: 'The evils shall be burned upon those dwelling on the earth' (Jer 5:31), those rooting themselves on the earth, which the holy one says he did not suffer, thanking: 'In a short time He has brought me to an end in the land' (Ps 116:7), and in the Revelation it is said: 'Woe to those dwelling on the earth' (Rev 6:10), not to those sojourning; but the purpose of God is to snatch the man from the earthlings, even if he himself holds to the earthlings.

'But Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord God' (Gen 6:8). It is great and heavenly to find grace in the sight of God, and this is accomplished through pleasing Him, which follows that to please men, the one pleasing to men not always pleasing to God. For see what the blessed Paul says: 'If I were still pleasing men, I would not be a Christ's slave' (Gal 1:10).

Then I would not have been, and the Psalmist says: 'The Lord scatters the bones of those who please men' (Ps 52:9). But those who have the grace from God say: 'He who has graced us along with the beloved' (Eph 1:6), just as Mary also hears from the angel: 'Rejoice, favored one, the Lord is with you' (Luke 1:28). For this is the grace, to have the Lord with oneself; and one has the Lord with oneself by being distinguished by virtue and good deeds, saying: 'If you seek the testing of the Christ speaking in me' (1 Cor 4:9).

For He himself gives grace and peace; for this is what the holy man prays for, saying: 'Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ' (2 Cor 13:13). And God gives this gift, having provided us the occasion to receive it. For it is said in Proverbs: 'Grace and friendship set free, which you have kept for yourself, so that you may not become despised' (Prov 28:14); for in the power of one's own choice is the ability to keep these and to succeed.

Thus also Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord God from his own domestic preparation, himself having graced himself through works of virtue and from this having received grace from God; for the God of all, working together with those succeeding and striving on our part, adds to, adorns, and leads into the greatness of good. The disciples of the Savior, knowing this, having already pre-succeeded in the faith toward him, were saying to him, knowing that faith is also God-given: 'Increase our faith' (Luke 22:32).

For just as a word of wisdom is given through the Spirit and a word of knowledge according to the Spirit (1 Cor 12:8), so also faith is in the same Spirit. For it is impossible to receive the faith given from God according to grace without having that which is established from our own part. For this is made clear from 'increase our faith' (Luke 22:32); but even Isaiah says, from the person of the Lord's man, or even from himself: 'He has added to me an ear for hearing, and the instruction of the Lord opens my ears' (Isa 50:4); for the hearing and instruction given toward God opens even these ears to hear the intellect more divinely.

Thus also let us understand 'grace for grace' (John 1:16), understanding the one from God approaching through our own part. And also let us understand the 'found' which was said, so that it might be shown that having sought...