Lumen Fidei - page 24

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this gift can we be transformed, experience sal-
vation and bear good fruit. Salvation by faith
means recognizing the primacy of God’s gift. As
Saint Paul puts it: “By grace you have been saved
through faith, and this is not your own doing; it
is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).
20. Faith’s new way of seeing things is cen-
tred on Christ. Faith in Christ brings salvation
because in him our lives become radically open
to a love that precedes us, a love that transforms
us from within, acting in us and through us. This
is clearly seen in Saint Paul’s exegesis of a text
from Deuteronomy, an exegesis consonant with
the heart of the Old Testament message. Moses
tells the people that God’s command is neither
too high nor too far away. There is no need to
say: “Who will go up for us to heaven and bring
it to us?” or “Who will go over the sea for us,
and bring it to us?” ( Dt 30:11-14). Paul interprets
this nearness of God’s word in terms of Christ’s
presence in the Christian. “Do not say in your
heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to
bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the
abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)”
(Rom 10:6-7). Christ came down to earth and
rose from the dead; by his incarnation and res-
urrection, the Son of God embraced the whole
of human life and history, and now dwells in our
hearts through the Holy Spirit. Faith knows that
God has drawn close to us, that Christ has been
given to us as a great gift which inwardly trans-