Who Am I?

Four Hundred Texts on Love (Fourth Century) 18

Posted: February 17th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: St. Maximos the Confessor | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Four Hundred Texts on Love (Fourth Century) 18

48. Since the devil is jealous both of us and of God, he persuaded man by guile that God was jealous of him (cf. Gen. 3:6), and so made him break the commandment. The devil is jealous of God lest His power should be seen actually divinizing man: and he is jealous of man lest through the attainment of virtue man should become a personal participant in divine glory. The foul thing is jealous not only of us, because of the glory which we attain with God through virtue, but also of God, because of that power, worthy of all praise, with which He accomplishes our salvation.

The devil is jealous and he turns that jealousy into one of his strongest weapons. We become jealous of others. We believe others, even God, are jealous of us.

God, though, is not jealous. He is love. He empties himself to come to us when we were not seeking him. As St. Maximos says, God seeks to make us all personal participants in his divine glory. That’s the traditional understanding of Christian salvation. It can be hard to discern that in the modern Christian cacophony.


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