Patristic Quote of the Day

Christ came once and found our ancient document, which Adam had written. He brought the beginning of the debt; we have increased it with our sins afterward. There was a curse, sin, death, and the condemnation of the Law written in that document; Christ abolished all these and canceled them. Therefore, Paul cries out, ‘Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.’ He did not say He wiped it out but nailed it to the cross so that not even a trace of it should remain. That’s why He did not obliterate it but tore it up. The nails of the cross tore it up and destroyed it so that it would become useless forever.—St. John Chrysostom, Third Sermon on the Newly Illumined