However, it is helpful for us to remember that God’s justice (or righteousness) is indeed a biblical and patristic theme, and that the metaphor of justification (that is, our acquittal) stands alongside others for atonement, both in the Bible and in many ancient fathers. For example, we hear from the mouth of St. John Chrysostom [the following formatting is original], The sentence of the judge was going to be passed …. A letter from the King came down from heaven. Rather, the King himself came. Without examination, without exacting an account, he set all free from the chains of their sins. All, then, who run to Christ are saved by His grace and profit from His gift. But those who wish to be justified by the Law will also fall from grace…. And if any were to cast in prison a person who owed… and another were to come and… to pay down the [debt], and to lead the prisoner into the king’s courts, and to the throne of the highest power, and make him partaker of the highest honor…, the creditor would not be able to remember the [debt]; this is our situation. For Christ has paid down far more than we owe, indeed, like a drop compared with the limitless ocean.
Essential Orthodox Christian Beliefs: A Manual for Adult Instruction, published by the OCA in 2023 (the same book later quotes the above-listed Chrysostom quote on the Ascension, with its mention of the punishment aspect)
Twentieth Century