Our Lord has not left the minds of His faithful followers in doubt, but has explained the manner in which His nature operates, saying, “That they may be one, as We are one: I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in one.”
Hence, if indeed Christ has taken to Himself the flesh of our body, and that Man Who was born from Mary was induced Christ, and we indeed receive in a mystery the flesh of His body--(and for this cause we shall be one, because the Father is in Him and He in us), -- how can a unity of will be maintained, seeing that the special property of nature received through the sacrament is the sacrament of a perfect unity?
Let us read what is written, let us understand what we read, and then fulfill the demands of a perfect faith. For as to what we say concerning the reality of Christ's nature within us, unless we have been taught by Him, our words are foolish and impious. For He says Himself, “My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” As to the verity of the flesh and blood there is no room left for doubt. For now both from the declaration of the Lord Himself and our own faith, it is verily flesh and verily blood. And these when eaten and drunk, bring it to pass that both we are in Christ and Christ in us.
Now how it is that we are in Him through the sacrament of the flesh and blood bestowed upon us, He Himself testifies, saying, “And the world will no longer see Me, but ye shall see Me ; because I live ye shall live also; because I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.”
Again, how natural this unity is in us He has Himself testified on this wise,--"He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” For no man shall dwell in Him, save him in whom He dwells Himself, for the only flesh which He has taken to Himself is the flesh of those who have taken His.
He had already taught before the sacrament of this perfect unity, saying, “As the living Father sent Me, and I live through the Father, so he that eats My flesh shall himself also live through Me.” So then He lives through the Father, and as He lives through the Father in like manner we live through His flesh. For all comparison is chosen to shape our understanding, so that we may grasp the subject of which we treat by help of the analogy set before us. This is the cause of our life that we have Christ dwelling within our carnal selves through the flesh, and we shall live through Him in the same manner as He lives through the Father.
Let us listen to that chosen vessel and teacher of the Gentiles, when he had already commended the faith of the people of Rome because of their understanding of the truth. For wishing to teach the unity of nature in the case of the Father and the Son, he speaks thus, “But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God is in you. But if any have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. But if Christ is in you, the body indeed is dead through sin, but the Spirit is life through righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Christ from the dead dwells in you; He Who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit Who dwells in you”.
We are all spiritual if the Spirit of God dwells in us. But this Spirit of God is also the Spirit of Christ, and though the Spirit of Christ is in us, yet His Spirit is also in us Who raised Christ from the dead, and He Who raised Christ from the dead shall quicken our mortal bodies also on account of His Spirit that dwells in us. We are quickened therefore on account of the Spirit of Christ that dwells in us, through Him Who raised Christ from the dead. And since the Spirit of Him Who raised Christ from the dead dwells in us, and yet the Spirit of Christ is in us, nevertheless the Spirit Which is in us cannot but be the Spirit of God.
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Excerpts taken From St. Hilary of Poitiers' work on The Trinity. St Hilary lived in the early part of the 4th century. This work was the first systematic treatise on the Trinity, and hence laid the foundation for Augustine's own work, and later theological reflection and understanding.
Posted by Carlos J. Medina
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