Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

This dispute concerning the two wills and the two natural operations in Christ is no idle thing, for in addition to the points we have mentioned, it also has this use that the Son of God assumed our nature in such a way that first in and through Himself He restored our nature to its pristine beauty which had been despoiled and corrupted in Adam, as Cyril says, In Johannem Book 11, ch. 25. Therefore, He did not assume a part of human nature without a mind, without a will, without human activity, but He assumed all the things which were planted in our nature by God, as Damascenus says, that is, He assumed a complete human nature possessing all the powers and faculties which belong to and were arranged for human nature, so that He restored even the powers which our nature had lost because of sin, and in Himself He first repaired and renewed the powers which had been corrupted through sin. And through Himself He bestowed upon the human race this renewal and restoration, which begins in this life and finds its completion in the future life. For that part of human nature which was not assumed by the Son of God has not been healed, as Nazianzus says. Damascenus, Book 4, chapter 14 cites this ancient statement: "Christ in Himself sketched out or reformed our will," as it had been in our perfect nature before sin. This restoration begins in this life and will be perfected in the life to come.—Blessed Martin Chemnitz, Two Natures in Christ, p. 238, 239.