Union with God in Christ

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

In all respects, therefore, and in all things, we are brought into union with Christ, into relationship through His blood, by which we are redeemed;

Tertullian, Against Praxeas Direct teaching

Wherefore he also exhorts us to believe in the name of His (the Father's,) Son Jesus Christ, that our fellowship may be with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...planting and His beloved vineyard, Isaiah 5:7. It contains those who have believed in His unfailing divine religion. They are the heirs, by faith, of His everlasting kingdom. They share in His divine influence and in the gift of the Holy Spirit. They are armed through Jesus and have received His fear into their hearts. They enjoy the benefit of being sprinkled with the precious and innocent blood of Christ. They have full freedom to call Almighty God "Father," being fellow heirs and joint partakers with His beloved Son. Listen to this holy teaching, you who enjoy His promises, since it has been delivered by the command of your Savior and agrees with His glorious words. Take care, you children of God, to do all things in obedience to God, and in all things please Christ our Lord. For if anyone follows unrighteousness and does those things that are contrary to the will of God, such a person will be regarded by God as one of the disobedient heathen.

Origen, Letter to Gregory Direct teaching

May you partake in these; may you have an always increasing share of them, so that you may be able to say not only, We are partakers of Christ, Hebrews 3:14 but also We are partakers of God.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

For this Church is the daughter of the Highest, which has been in travail of you by the word of grace, and has formed Christ in you, of whom you are made partakers, and thereby become His holy and chosen members, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing;

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness

But communion with God is life and light, and the enjoyment of all the benefits which He has in store.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness

and he who approaches Him in a true fellowship, comes to Him through Christ.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

And you shall be a companion of the Deity, and a co-heir with Christ, no longer enslaved by lusts or passions, and never again wasted by disease.

Tatian, Address to the Greeks Supporting witness

But further, it becomes us now to seek for what we once had, but have lost, to unite the soul with the Holy Spirit, and to strive after union with God.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

For you have become God: for whatever sufferings you underwent while being a man, these He gave to you, because you were of mortal mould, but whatever it is consistent with God to impart, these God has promised to bestow upon you, because you have been deified, and begotten unto immortality.

1 John 1:3 Direct teaching

that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:9 Direct teaching

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Cyprian, Treatises Direct teaching

...e forever, it is clear that those who partake of His body and receive the Eucharist by the right of communion are living. So, on the other hand, we must fear and pray lest anyone who is kept from communion, and is separated from Christ’s body, should remain far from salvation, as He Himself threatens and says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall have no life in you.” John 6:53 And therefore we ask that our bread—that is, Christ—may be given to us daily, so that we who remain and live in Christ may not depart from His sanctification and body.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching

...er change their opinion or stop offering the things just mentioned. But our opinion agrees with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn supports our opinion. For we offer to Him His own, consistently announcing the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit. For just as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Direct teaching

When, therefore, the mixed cup and the made bread receive the Word of God, and the Eucharist of the blood and body of Christ is formed, from which the substance of our flesh is grown and sustained, how can they claim that the flesh is incapable of receiving the gift of God, which is eternal life, when this flesh is nourished from the body and blood of the Lord and is a part of Him? Just as the blessed Paul states in his letter to the Ephesians, that “we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.” He does not speak of some spiritual and invisible person, for a spirit does not have bones or flesh; but he is referring to the arrangement by which the Lord became an actual man, consisting of flesh, and nerves, and bones,—that flesh which is nourished by the cup that is His blood, and grows from the bread that is His body. And just as a branch from the vine planted in the ground bears fruit in its season, or as a grain of wheat falling into the earth and breaking down, rises with abundant growth by the Spirit of God, who holds all things, and then, through the wisdom of God, serves human use, and having received the Word of God, becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and

Didache, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles Direct teaching

Now about the Thanksgiving, or Eucharist, give thanks in this way. First, about the cup: "We thank You, our Father, for the holy vine of David Your Servant, which You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant. To You be the glory forever." And about the broken bread: "We thank You, our Father, for the life and knowledge that You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant. To You be the glory forever." Just as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and then was gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom. For Yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever. But let no one eat or drink of your Thanksgiving, or Eucharist, except those who have been baptized into the name of the Lord. For about this also the Lord has said, "Do not give what is holy to dogs." Matthew 7:6

Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans (Short Version) Direct teaching

They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not acknowledge the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, who suffered for our sins, and whom the Father, in His goodness, raised up again. Those, therefore, who speak against this gift of God, bring upon themselves death in the midst of their disputes. Yet it would be better for them to treat it with respect, so that they might also rise again. It is fitting, therefore, that you should keep away from such people, and not speak of them either in private or in public, but to pay attention to the prophets, and above all, to the Gospel, in which the passion of Christ has been revealed to us, and the resurrection has been fully proven. But avoid all divisions, as they are the beginning of evils.

Tertullian, On Prayer Direct teaching

...these shall be added," Matthew 6:33. Although we may rather understand, "Give us this day our daily bread," spiritually. For Christ is our Bread, because Christ is Life, and bread is life. He says, "I am the Bread of Life," John 6:35. And, a little above, "The Bread is the Word of the living God, who came down from the heavens," John 6:33. Then we find, too, that His body is counted in bread: "This is my body," Matthew 26:26. And so, in asking for daily bread, we ask for perpetuity in Christ and indivisibility from His body. But because that phrase can also be understood in a bodily sense, it cannot be used that way without the religious remembrance of spiritual Discipline as well. For the Lord commands that bread be prayed for, which is the only food necessary for believers. For all other things the nations seek after, Matthew 6:32. He teaches the same lesson both by examples and repeatedly in parables, when He says, "Does a father take away bread from his children, and hand it to dogs?" And again, "Does a father give his son a stone when he asks for bread?" For in this way He shows what sons expect from their father. No, even that man knocking at night knocked for bread, Luke

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Direct teaching

This food is called among us [the Eucharist], and only those who believe that our teachings are true, have been washed with the washing for the remission of sins and renewal, and live as Christ instructed, are allowed to partake. We do not receive these as common bread and drink, but in the same way that Jesus Christ our Savior became flesh by the Word of God and had flesh and blood for our salvation, we have been taught that the food blessed by His word and prayer, which nourishes our blood and flesh through transformation, is the flesh and blood of Jesus who became flesh. The apostles, in the writings they composed, which are called Gospels, have passed down to us what Jesus instructed them: that He took bread, gave thanks, and said, "Do this in remembrance of Me, this is My body;" and in the same way, after taking the cup and giving thanks, He said, "This is My blood;" and gave it to them alone. The wicked devils have imitated this in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same actions. You either know or can learn that bread and a cup of water are used with certain incantations in the mystical rites of someone being initiated.

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Supporting witness

The union of the all-holy body and precious blood of our Lord and God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

“Accordingly, God, anticipating all the sacrifices which we offer through this name, and which Jesus the Christ enjoined us to offer, i.e., in the Eucharist of the bread and the cup, and which are presented by Christians in all places throughout the world, bears witness that they are well-pleasing to Him.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...re able, and we carry out His constitution. For on the same night in which He was betrayed, He took bread in His holy and undefiled hands, and looking up to You, His God and Father, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, "This is the mystery of the new covenant. Take of it, and eat. This is my body, which is broken for many, for the remission of sins." In the same way, He also took the cup, mixed it with wine and water, sanctified it, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink all of this, for this is my blood, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins. Do this in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show my death until I come. Therefore, remembering His passion, death, resurrection from the dead, return into the heavens, and His future second appearing, in which He is to come with glory and power to judge the living and the dead, and to repay everyone according to his works, we offer to You, our King and our God, according to His constitution, this bread and this cup. We give You thanks through Him, because You have counted us worthy to stand before You and to sacrifice to You. And we beg You to look mercifully upon these gi

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

and the [means of] communion with Christ has been distributed throughout it, that is, the Holy Spirit, the earnest of incorruption, the means of confirming our faith, and the ladder of ascent to God.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

For if the divine word says about our parents according to the flesh, "Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you," Exodus 20:12, and, "He who curses his father or his mother, let him surely die," Exodus 21:17, how much more should this word urge you to honor your spiritual parents and to love them as your benefactors and ambassadors with God? They have regenerated you by water and filled you with the fullness of the Holy Spirit. They have fed you with the word as with milk. They have nourished you with doctrine. They have strengthened you by their warnings. They have given you the saving body and precious blood of Christ. They have released you from your sins. They have made you partakers of the holy and sacred Eucharist. They have admitted you to be partakers and fellow heirs of the promise of God. Reverence them, and honor them with every kind of honor. For they have received from God the power of life and death in judging sinners and condemning them to the death of eternal fire, and also in releasing repentant sinners from their sins and restoring them to a new life.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Direct teaching

...nd may your spirit, soul, and body be preserved whole without fault at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ." What was his purpose in praying for these three—soul, body, and spirit—to be preserved until the Lord's coming, unless he knew about their future reintegration and union and their shared salvation? He declares that the "perfect" are those who present these three parts to the Lord without fault. Thus, the perfect are those who have the Spirit of God within them, keeping their souls and bodies blameless, holding on to faith in God, and practicing righteousness with their neighbors.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, On the Trinity Supporting witness

...derstand His generation? And we, indeed, without ambiguity understand that our soul dwells in us in union with the body. But still, who has ever seen his own soul? Who has been able to discern its union with his body? This one thing is all we know certainly, that there is a soul within us joined with the body. Thus then we reason and believe that the Word is begotten by the Father, although we neither possess nor know the clear rationale of the fact. The Word Himself is before every creature, eternal from the Eternal, like spring from spring, and light from light. The word Word, indeed, belongs to those three genera of words which are named in Scripture, and which are not substantial: namely, the word conceived, the word uttered, and the word articulated. The word conceived certainly is not substantial. The word uttered, again, is that voice which the prophets hear from God, or the prophetic speech itself. And even this is not substantial. And lastly, the word articulated is the speech of man formed in air, composed of terms, which also is not substantial. But the Word of God is substantial, endowed with an exalted and enduring nature, and is eternal with Himself, and is insepar

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

...aid, "Have I been with you so long, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father also." But let him learn what he does not understand. Philip is rebuked, and rightly and deservedly, because he said, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." For when had he ever heard from Christ, or learned, that Christ was the Father? On the contrary, he had often heard and often learned that He was the Son, not that He was the Father. For when the Lord said, "If you have known me, you have known my Father also; and from now on you have known Him and have seen Him," He did not say this because He wanted to be understood as the Father Himself. Rather, He meant that the person who came near to the Son of God completely and fully, with all faith and all reverence, would certainly reach the Father through the Son Himself, in whom he believes, and would see Him. For He says, "No one can come to the Father but by me." Therefore, such a person will not only come to God the Father and know the Father Himself, but he ought also to hold this in his mind and heart, and so be assured, that from now on he has not only known the Father, but seen Him. For divine Scripture

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness

...s life who says, "I am the life," John 14:6. And this life has certainly been hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ our life is revealed, then those who are worthy to be revealed with Him in glory will also be revealed with Him, Colossians 3:3-4. But the enemy of this life, who is also the last enemy of all His enemies to be destroyed, is death, 1 Corinthians 15:26. The soul that sins dies by having a condition opposite to the one found in the soul that lives rightly, and because it lives rightly, truly lives. And when it is said in the law, "I have placed life before your face," Deuteronomy 30:15, Scripture says this about Him who said, "I am the Life," and about His enemy, death. By his deeds, each of us is always choosing one or the other. And when we sin while life is before our face, the curse is fulfilled against us which says, "And your life shall be hanging up before you," and so on, down to the words, "and for the sights of your eyes which you shall see," Deuteronomy 28:66-67. Therefore, just as the Life is also the living bread that came down from heaven and gave life to the world, John 6:33, 51, so His enemy death is dead bread. Now every rational soul is fed eit

Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Supporting witness

...ve these things concerning Him, just as the Apostolic Church believes. We believe in one unbegotten Father, who has from no one the cause of His being. He is unchangeable and immutable. He is always the same and admits no increase or decrease. He gave to us the Law, the prophets, and the Gospels. He is Lord of the patriarchs and apostles, and of all the saints. And we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. He was not begotten from things that are not, but from Him who is the Father. He was not begotten in a bodily manner, by excision or division, as Sabellius and Valentinus thought, but in a certain inexplicable and unspeakable manner, according to the words of the prophet quoted above: "Who shall declare His generation?" Isaiah 53:8. Since no nature that is begotten can investigate His subsistence, just as no one can investigate the Father, because the nature of rational beings cannot receive the knowledge of His divine generation by the Father. But men who are moved by the Spirit of truth have no need to learn these things from me. For the words spoken before by Christ on this very matter are sounding in our ears: "No man knows the Father, save the Son

Ignatius, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Short Version) Supporting witness

For if I in this brief space of time, have enjoyed such fellowship with your bishop —I mean not of a mere human, but of a spiritual nature—how much more do I reckon you happy who are so joined to him as the Church is to Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is to the Father, that so all things may agree in unity!

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

And after his renunciation let him in his consociation say: And I associate myself to Christ, and believe, and am baptized into one unbegotten Being, the only true God Almighty, the Father of Christ, the Creator and Maker of all things, from whom are all things;

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness

But on that account this Christ here laid more stress on the one aspect of His sole divinity, because the Jewish blindness contemplated in Christ the aspect alone of the flesh;

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

heirs indeed of God, but joint-heirs with Christ, if we suffer together, that we may also be glorified together.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

God is mingled with man. This is our God, this is Christ, who, as the mediator of the two, puts on man that He may lead them to the Father.

Origen, Letter to Gregory Supporting witness

Whether I have ventured well or not, God knows, and His Christ, and he who has part of the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ.