the soteriology of saint athanasius of alexandria the conformation of ...

230 JOHN R. MEYER
carnation does the gift of grace become permanently united with
Christ's human nature. We can now receive the «self-possession of
the Son» from his own Spirit 91 . Adam could not pass on grace
as a personal possession because it was an inheritance entrusted to
him which he could lose.
Basil emphasizes that the dignity of the Christian derives
from this participation in the divine nature of the Spirit: «It is
not by nature that heavenly powers sanctify, if not, they would
not differ from the Holy Spirit; it is in proportion to the relative
excellence of those who have the Spirit that is the measure of
their sanctity» 92 . As the common adage goes, God's grace does
not suppress our human nature, but perfects it. We must dispose
the soul to accept this grace and cooperate with it by the practice
of virtue. Cyril of Alexandria writes that the soul acquires a new
stability and strength when the Holy Spirit inserts it into Christ:
«the human soul, after he had made it his own, and had imbued
it with the firmness and changelessness of his nature, as one dyes
wool with solid color, was declared by him to be superior to sin
(...). Thus the soul, once it had been made his who knows no sin,
straightaway acquired a condition of firmness and stability in all
goods, and a great power over sin. Christ (...) therefore was made,
so to speak, the root and origin of all those who in the Spirit are
reborn to newness of life and bodily immortality. For that unshakable
constancy, which comes from divinity, he transferred to
the whole human race by communicating grace to men» 93 .
4. The Intervention of the Holy Spirit
Let us take a look at some interesting points concerning
the action of the Holy Spirit in salvation history. To begin with,
the just of the Old Testament enjoyed a holiness that was of
the same nature as our own, but it was purely external and bodily.
The grace they received was «a cleansing of the flesh* (cf.
Heh. 9, 13) with no capacity for internal renovation of the soul.
This situation changed with the advent of the Son of God in
Christ. Man can now be purified of sin so that he can receive
the adoption as son in a more perfect manner. Besides the
elevating character of God's grace, a new healing grace was given
to mankind.