Against Heresies: Book IV
Chapter 9: There is only one author and one purpose for both agreements
All things are from one and the same substance, from one and the same God; as the Lord also says to the disciples, “Every scribe instructed for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” He did not mean that one person brought out the old and another brought out the new, but that they were one and the same. For the Lord is the good householder, who governs the entire house of His Father; who delivers a law suited for both slaves and the undisciplined; provides fitting precepts to those who are free and justified by faith; and opens His inheritance to those who are sons.
He called His disciples “scribes” and “teachers of the kingdom of heaven;” about whom He also says elsewhere to the Jews: “Behold, I send you wise men, scribes, and teachers; and some of them you will kill and persecute from city to city.” Clearly, He refers to the things brought out from the treasure as the two covenants; the old, the law given in the past; and He identifies as the new, the manner of life required by the Gospel, as David says, “Sing a new song;” and Isaiah, “Sing a new hymn.
His beginning, His name is glorified from the height of the earth: they declare His powers in the islands.” And Jeremiah says: “Behold, I will make a new covenant, not like the one I made with your fathers on Mount Horeb.” But it is one and the same householder who brought forth both covenants: the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who spoke with both Abraham and Moses, and who has restored us to liberty, and has multiplied the grace from Himself.
He declares, "For here is One greater than the temple." The terms greater and lesser are not used for things that have nothing in common and are opposites, but for things of the same kind that share properties and only differ in quantity and size, like water from water, light from light, and grace from grace.
Thus, the legislation given for freedom is greater than that given for bondage; it is spread not just to one nation but to the whole world.
The same Lord, who is greater than the temple, Solomon, and Jonah, gives gifts to people, like His presence and resurrection from the dead, but He does not change God or proclaim another Father, but the same one who always has more to give to His family. As their love for God grows, He gives more and greater gifts. The Lord said to His disciples, "You shall see greater things than these." Paul states, "Not that I have already attained, or am justified, or have been made perfect.
We know in part and prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will disappear." When the perfect comes, we will not see another Father but the one we desire to see now, for "blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." We will not look for another Christ and Son of God, but Him who was born of the Virgin Mary, who also suffered, whom we trust and love. As Isaiah says, "And they shall say in that day, Behold our God, in whom we have trusted, and we have rejoiced in our salvation;" and Peter in his Epistle says, "Whom, not seeing, you love; in whom, though now you see Him not, you believe, you shall rejoice with joy unspeakable;" and we do not receive another Holy Spirit besides Him who is with us and cries, "Abba, Father;" and we will grow and progress, not seeing through a glass or in riddles, but face to face, enjoying the gifts of God.
Now, receiving more than the temple and Solomon, with the coming of the Son of God, we have not been taught another God besides the Creator and Maker of all, shown to us from the beginning, nor another Christ, the Son of God, besides Him foretold by the prophets.
The new covenant, known and preached by the prophets, was to be fulfilled by Him who was revealed according to the Father's will. This was made known to people as God desired, so they might grow in faith and, through successive covenants, gradually achieve perfect salvation. There is one salvation and one God, but the teachings that shape a person are many, and the steps leading to God are not few. If an earthly king, though just a man, can grant his subjects greater benefits at times, should it not be lawful for God, who is always the same, to continually give greater grace to humanity and honor those who please Him with many gifts?
If progressing means discovering another Father besides the one preached from the beginning, and then finding another after the second, then this person's progress consists in moving from a third to a fourth, and so on. Thus, anyone thinking they are making such progress will never settle in one God. Being led away from the true God, they will always seek but never find Him, endlessly lost in a boundless abyss, unless they repent and return to where they were cast out, acknowledging one God, the Father, the Creator, and believing in Him who was declared by the law and the prophets and testified to by Christ. Christ Himself addressed those who accused His disciples of not following the traditions of the elders, saying, “Why do you make void the law of God because of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Whoever curses father or mother, let him die.'” He repeated to them, “You have made void the word of God because of your tradition,” plainly confessing the Father and God, who said in the law, “Honor your father and mother, that it may be well with you.” For the true God acknowledged the commandment of the law as the word of God and called no one else God besides His own Father.