NPNF2-08. Basil: Letters and Select Works - Holy Bible Institute

That the word “in,” in as many senses as it bears, is understood of the Spirit.said to exist in, even if on account of the firmness of the recipients’ disposition to good thegrace abides with them continually. Thus whenever we have in mind the Spirit’s properrank, we contemplate Him as being with the Father and the Son, but when we think of thegrace that flows from Him operating on those who participate in it, we say that the Spirit isin us. And the doxology which we offer “in the Spirit” is not an acknowledgment of Hisrank; it is rather a confession of our own weakness, while we shew that we are not sufficientto glorify Him of ourselves, but our sufficiency 1261 is in the Holy Spirit. Enabled in, [or by,]Him we render thanks to our God for the benefits we have received, according to themeasure of our purification from evil, as we receive one a larger and another a smaller shareof the aid of the Spirit, that we may offer “the sacrifice of praise to God.” 1262 According toone use, then, it is thus that we offer our thanksgiving, as the true religion requires, in theSpirit; although it is not quite unobjectionable that any one should testify of himself “theSpirit of God is in me, and I offer glory after being made wise through the grace that flowsfrom Him.” For to a Paul it is becoming to say “I think also that I have the Spirit of God,” 1263and again, “that good thing which was committed to thee keep by the Holy Ghost whichdwelleth in us.” 1264 And of Daniel it is fitting to say that “the Holy Spirit of God is inhim,” 1265 and similarly of men who are like these in virtue.64. Another sense may however be given to the phrase, that just as the Father is seenin the Son, so is the Son in the Spirit. The “worship in the Spirit” suggests the idea of theoperation of our intelligence being carried on in the light, as may be learned from the wordsspoken to the woman of Samaria. Deceived as she was by the customs of her country intothe belief that worship was local, our Lord, with the object of giving her better instruction,said that worship ought to be offered “in Spirit and in Truth,” 1266 plainly meaning by theTruth, Himself. As then we speak of the worship offered in the Image of God the Father asworship in the Son, so too do we speak of worship in the Spirit as shewing in Himself theGodhead of the Lord. Wherefore even in our worship the Holy Spirit is inseparable fromthe Father and the Son. If you remain outside the Spirit you will not be able even to worshipat all; and on your becoming in Him you will in no wise be able to dissever Him fromGod;—any more than you will divorce light from visible objects. For it is impossible to beholdthe Image of the invisible God except by the enlightenment of the Spirit, and impracticablefor him to fix his gaze on the Image to dissever the light from the Image, because the cause401261 cf. 2 Cor. iii. 5.1262 Heb. xiii. 15.1263 1 Cor. vii. 40.1264 2 Tim. i. 14.1265 Dan. iv. 8, lxx.1266 John iv. 24.227