St. Mark the Ascetic On Those who Think that They are Made Righteous by Works Two Hundred and Twenty Six Texts In the texts which follow, the beliefs of those in error will be refuted by those whose faith is well founded and who know the truth. Wishing to show that to fulfill every commandment is a duty, whereas sonship is a gift given to men through His own Blood, the Lord said: ‘When you have done all that is commanded you, say: “We are useless servants: we have only done what was our duty” ' (Luke 17:10).
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St. Mark the Ascetic On the Spiritual Law Two Hundred Texts Because you have often asked what the Apostle means when he says that ‘the law is spiritual’ (Rom. 7:14), and what kind of spiritual knowledge and action characterizes those who wish to observe it, we shall speak of this as far as we can. First of all, we know that God is the beginning, middle and end of everything good; and it is impossible for us to have faith in anything good or to carry it into effect except in Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
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