THEOSISCyrill of Alexandria
Bear witness, He declares, that I am the sole God of all creation, for there was none before Me and there shall be none after Me; I alone am the Savior. I have proclaimed this from the very beginning and have brought to pass what I have spoken, for I have redeemed in Christ. I have admonished you, and I find no foreign influence among you. The Israelites, at times, strayed from the sacred commandments given by the wise Moses, preferring transient pleasures over their relationship with God. Consequently, due to their negligence, they faced peril when enemies assailed them; yet in times of distress, they cried out to the One who eternally saves. Thus, He disciplined them through the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "And in the time of their bitterness they shall say, Arise, and deliver us.
Read more (298 words)
And where are thy gods, which thou hast made thee, that they may arise and deliver thee in the time of thy affliction" (Jeremiah 2:27, 28). I have corrected you, O children of Israel, repeatedly, and you have come to realize through your own experiences that there is no god among you, that is, no foreign deity, for none has been able to save you. Therefore, it is I alone who provides salvation. Thus, be My witnesses; I, too, will testify on My own behalf, declares the Lord God, or in the words of Christ: "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before My Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32). Proclaim that I am He who has existed from the beginning, who knows the future, and who is capable of freely saving those who yearn for fellowship with Me—saving in such a way that none can snatch from My grasp those whom I have chosen: for there is none, He asserts, who can remove them from My hand. "I will create," He says, "and who can prevent it?" He has fulfilled, He says, the calling of the nations, bringing back those who have strayed; who can alter this, or cause it to be otherwise? And that none will be taken from the hand of God, the Savior assures them, saying, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I will give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which hath given me, is greater than all: and no man can take them out of my Father's hand" (John 10:27-29). Clearly, this reaffirms what is stated: No one shall be taken out of My hand.