Moral Rules 1 part 1/7

1. On repentance, and what the season of repentance is, and concerning its distinguishing marks, and concerning its fruits.

2. That the zeal of those who wish to please God must be unmixed with anything contrary, and pure.

3. On love toward God, and what the proof of it is.

4. What honor toward God is, and what dishonor is.

5. On love toward one another, and its distinguishing marks.

6. That one must speak with boldness in the confession of God and of His Christ.

7. That the confession of the Lord does not suffice for salvation to those who transgress His commandments.

8. On faith and full assurance concerning the words of the Lord.

9. On knowledge or ignorance of the things incumbent upon us.

10. What the end of sin is, and what the end of the commandment of God is.

11. On the judgments of God, and the fear that comes from them.

12. On the rejection of and contradiction against the will of God, or the obedience to and keeping of it.

13. On the readiness at every season, and the unhesitating zeal, of those who are eager to please God.

14. On the proper occasion for each of the particular good deeds accomplished.

15. That one must not, by placing hope in the good deeds of others, neglect one's own.

16. On those who suppose they gain some benefit from living together with the good and well-pleasing, while not themselves accomplishing good deeds.

17. How one must be disposed toward the present time.

18. On the manner and disposition of those who are zealous concerning the commandment of God.

19. On the one who hinders, and the one who is hindered, in the commandment of God.

20. On baptism, and what the meaning and the power of baptism is.

21. On communion in the body and the blood of Christ, and what the meaning of this is.

22. How one becomes estranged from God, and by what means one is united to God.

23. On those who are overcome even by the sins that they hate.

24. On falsehood and truth.

25. On idle talk, and on the right ordering of serious words.

26. That one must make use, first of all, of the testimonies from the Scriptures in support of what is done or said by us, and thereafter also of what is recognized by custom.

27. On being conformed, according to one's ability, to God and to the saints.

28. That one must be discerning concerning good men, and their opposites.

29. On the manner by which we prove our own profession to be trustworthy.

30. On the honor due to things dedicated to God.

31. On the use of things set apart for the saints.

32. On debts and repayments.

33. On those who cause offense, and those who are made to stumble.

34. That each one, according to his own measure, must set before others a pattern of good deeds.

35. On those who disparage good things.

36. On honor and disposition toward the saints.

37. On those who are eager to do but little, according to their ability.

39. On steadfastness amid occasions of stumbling.

40. On those who teach a different doctrine.

41. On cutting off those who cause offense, and sparing the weaker.

42. On the Lord's having come to fulfill the Law.

43. On the difference between the commandments of the Law and those of the Gospel.

44. That the burden of the Lord is light, but sin is heavy.

45. On equality of honor and lowliness of mind.

46. On zeal for greater or lesser good deeds.

47. On wealth and poverty, and what accompanies these.

48. On beneficence toward the brethren, and the labor undertaken for its sake.

49. On the one who goes to law, and avenges himself, or another.

50. On peace and peacemaking.

51. What manner of man he ought to be who attempts to correct his neighbor.

52. On grief over those who sin, and how one ought to deal with them;

and when one ought to turn away from them, or when to receive them.

53. What the judgment is upon those who bear a grudge for what they suppose themselves to have been wronged in.

54. On judging, and on disputing at law.

55. On prayer — when, and what, and how, and for whom one must pray.

57. On being puffed up over one's good deeds.

58. On the acquisition of the gifts of God, and the sharing of them with others.

59. On human honor and glory.

60. On the diversity of the gifts of God, and the concord of those who excel in these, or those who fall short.

61. On the lowliness, as reckoned among men, of those who receive the grace of God.

62. On temptations — when one must withdraw, and when one must stand firm, and how to meet what is contrary.

63. On cowardice and courage in circumstances of trial.

64. On joy in the sufferings endured for Christ's sake.

65. How one must pray even at the very end.

66. On those who abandon those who contend for the sake of piety, and on those who contend together with them.

67. On those who grieve over the dying.

68. On the difference between the present age and the age to come.

69. On the things which are forbidden by Scripture together and in conjunction with one another, or which are approved.

70. On those who take in hand the preaching of the Gospel — when, and whom, and what such persons must teach, and how they must first set themselves in order;

and how they must be bold in preaching, and how they must care for those entrusted to them, and with what disposition, and with which pursuits they must chiefly occupy themselves.

and how to keep pure from the faults that for the most part attend such a charge, and to what measure to bring those under instruction, and how to lead on those who set themselves in opposition, and in what manner to yield to those who excuse themselves out of fear, and how to withdraw from those who through obstinate ingratitude do not accept correction;

and how to ordain certain men, or to remove from office those who have been ordained;

and that each of those who preside must consider himself accountable, and must give to those entrusted to him full assurance concerning what he does and says.

71. Concerning the matters further ordained, in connection with what has been said, regarding those who preside.

72. How those under instruction must distinguish spiritual teachers from those who are not such, and how they must be disposed toward them, or receive what comes from them.

75. Concerning slaves and masters.

76. Concerning children and parents.

79. Concerning rulers and subjects.

80. What sort of persons, in general, the teaching wills Christians to be, and what sort those who preside over them.

That those who believe in the Lord must first repent, according to the preaching of John, and of our Lord Jesus Christ himself;

for those who do not now repent are condemned more severely than those who were condemned before the Gospel.

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say:

for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they had not repented:

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!

for if the mighty works that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you — and so on.

That the present time is the time of repentance and of the forgiveness of sins;

while in the age to come is the righteous judgment of recompense.

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he says:

Amen I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;

and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

…whatever they shall ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.

For the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life;

but those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.

Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart, you are storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each according to his works.

The times of ignorance, then, God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent;

because he has fixed a day on which he is about to judge the world.

That those who repent must weep bitterly, and show forth from the heart the rest of what is proper to repentance.

And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, who had said to him, "Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times."

And going outside, he wept bitterly.

But he who comforts the lowly comforted us by the coming of Titus;

and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted concerning you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me,

For behold, this very thing, that you were grieved in a godly manner, what earnestness it produced in you —

nay, what defense of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what readiness to avenge wrong!

In everything you proved yourselves to be pure in the matter.

And many of those who had believed came, confessing and declaring their deeds.

And a good number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them before all.

That for those who repent, the mere withdrawal from their sins alone is not sufficient for salvation, but they have need also of fruits worthy of repentance.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them:

Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not presume to say within yourselves:

"We have Abraham as our father."

For I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees;

therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

That after departure from this life there is no time left for right actions, God having allotted the present time, in patience, for the working of what is pleasing to him.

Then the kingdom of heaven will be compared to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Five of them were wise, and five foolish;

for the foolish, when they took their lamps, did not take oil with them;

but the wise took oil in their vessels along with their lamps.

Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.

But at midnight a cry arose:

"Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him."

Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.

And the foolish said to the wise:

But the wise answered, saying:

"Lest there not be enough for us and for you;

go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves."

But while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.

Afterward the rest of the virgins also came, saying:

"Lord, Lord, open to us."

"Amen I say to you, I do not know you."

From the time when the master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying:

"Lord, Lord, open to us";

and he will answer and say to you:

"Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation" — giving no occasion for stumbling in anything, that the ministry may not be blamed, but commending ourselves in everything as ministers of God,

So then, as we have opportunity, let us work good toward all.

That it is impossible for the one who mingles himself in affairs alien to godliness to serve God.

No one can serve two masters;

for either he will hate the one and love the other,

or he will hold to the one, and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and mammon.

Do not become unequally yoked with unbelievers.

For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what share has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? That the one who has obeyed the Gospel must first be cleansed from every defilement of flesh and spirit, that he may thus become acceptable to God in the achievements of holiness.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.

Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside of them may become clean also.

Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

That it is impossible for one who is passionately attached to anything present, or who tolerates anything that draws him away, even a little, from the commandment of God, to become a disciple of the Lord.

He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.

And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

And whoever does not take up his own cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his own cross, and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his own life will lose it.

That the first and great commandment in the Law was testified by the Lord to be: to love God with the whole heart;

and the second: to love one's neighbor as oneself.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

That the proof of not loving God and his Christ is not keeping his commandments;

and the proof of loving him is the keeping of Christ's commandments, in endurance of his sufferings even unto death.

He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.

He who does not love me does not keep my words.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

or peril, or sword? As it is written:

For your sake we are put to death all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

But in all these things we more than conquer through him who loved us — and so on.

That he who does his will honors and glorifies God;

but he who transgresses his law dishonors him.

I have glorified you on the earth;

I have finished the work which you gave me to do.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

that you may be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God through your transgression of the law?

That one must, being pure from all hatred toward all, love even one's enemies;

and lay down one's life for one's friends, when need calls, having such love as God and his Christ had toward us.

You have heard that it was said to those of old:

You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.

Love your enemies;

You shall therefore be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son.

This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.

No one has greater love than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

And you shall be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

Be merciful, therefore, just as your Father also is merciful.

But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us, and gave himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God.

That the proof of Christ's disciples is the love they have for one another in him.

By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

That the proof of not having the love of Christ toward one's neighbor is doing something that harms or grieves him, to the undermining of his faith, even if the thing done is in itself permitted by Scripture.

For if because of food your brother is grieved, you are no longer walking according to love.

Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.

That the Christian must, by every means within his power, appease even the one who is grieved against him.

If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being slandered, we entreat.

That the one who has the love that is according to Christ sometimes even grieves the one he loves, for his benefit.

But now I go to him who sent me, and none of you asks me:

'Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

Nevertheless I tell you the truth:

it is to your advantage that I go away.

For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you.

So that I rejoice all the more, that although I grieved you in the letter, I do not regret it, even though I did regret it.

Now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved into repentance.

For you were grieved according to God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.

That one must speak boldly, without fear and without shame, in the confession of our Lord Jesus Christ and of his words.

What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light;

and what you hear in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.

And do not fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul;

but fear rather him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.

For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and that of the Father, and of the holy angels.

Do not therefore be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner;

but share in suffering for the gospel, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

That even if someone seems to confess the Lord and to hear his words, yet disobeys his commandments, he stands condemned, even if by some dispensation he is permitted to have a share in spiritual gifts.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day:

Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you who work lawlessness, and so forth.

Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? and so forth.

They profess to know God, but by their works they deny him;

being detestable, and disobedient, and unfit for any good work.

That one must not be divided in judgment and waver over the things spoken by the Lord, but must be fully persuaded that every word of God is true and possible, even should nature itself contend against it.

For herein indeed lies the contest of faith.

And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.

And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying,

and out of fear they cried out.

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying,

Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.

And Peter answered him and said,

Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

And Peter got down from the boat and walked on the water to come to Jesus.

But seeing the wind strong, he was afraid;

and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying,

And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and took hold of him, and says to him,

O you of little faith, why did you doubt? JOHN

The Jews then quarreled among themselves, saying,

How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then he said to them,

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves.

because your petition has been heard,

and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son.

And Zachariah said to the angel,

How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her days.

And the angel answered and said to him,

I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God;

and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news.

And behold, you will be silent, and unable to speak, until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.

And not having weakened in faith, he gave no thought to his own body, already as good as dead—he being about a hundred years old—nor to the deadness of Sarah's womb;

yet at the promise of God he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith,

giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform.

That the one who does not believe the Lord in lesser things is plainly, much more, unbelieving in greater things.

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? LUKE

He who is faithful in the very least is faithful also in much;

and he who is unjust in the very least is unjust also in much.

That one ought not to rely on his own reasonings so as to set aside what is spoken by the Lord;

but should know that the words of the Lord are more trustworthy than one's own conviction.

Then Jesus said to them,

You will all fall away because of me this night.

But Peter answered and said to him,

Even if all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.

Truly I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.

Now when evening had come, he was reclining at table with the twelve disciples;

and as they were eating, he said to them,

I say to you that one of you will betray me.

And being greatly grieved, each of them began to say to him,

Is it I, Lord? ACTS

And a voice came to him:

Rise, Peter, kill and eat.

for I have never eaten anything common or unclean.

And the voice came to him again a second time:

What God has cleansed, do not you call common.

casting down reasonings, and every high thing that raises itself up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

That one must not neglect the knowledge of the things incumbent upon him;

but should hear the words of the Lord with attention, understand them, and do his will.

And Peter answered and said to him,

Explain this parable to us.

Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet perceive that everything that enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is cast out into the latrine? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the man?

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.

This is the one sown along the path.

But the one sown on the good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit, and yields, this one a hundredfold, this one sixty, this one thirty.

And having called the whole crowd to him, he said to them,

See then that you walk carefully;

not as unwise, but as wise;

redeeming the time, because the days are evil

That one must not meddle in matters that do not pertain to oneself

And after the morsel, then Satan entered into him

So those who had come together were asking him, saying:

Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them:

It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father has set by his own authority

That it is characteristic of those who are earnest for pleasing God also to ask concerning what is necessary

And his disciples came to him, saying:

Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field

And behold, one came up and said to him:

He therefore said to the crowds that went out to be baptized by him:

Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? And after a little:

And the crowds were asking him, saying:

What shall we do? So too the tax collectors [asked]; so too those serving as soldiers [asked].

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles:

What shall we do, brothers? — That one who is asked must take care to give a worthy answer

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, testing him, and saying:

What is written in the law? How do you read it? And he answered and said:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself

Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each one

That the judgment of those who understand and yet do not act is worse;

yet to sin through ignorance is not without danger either

But that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes

But he who did not know, and did things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few

That the end of sin is death

But he who disobeys the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness

What fruit then did you have at that time, in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death

For the wages of sin is death

But the sting of death is sin

That the end of God's commandment is eternal life

Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death, forever

But the Father who sent me, he himself has given me commandment, what I should say and what I should speak; and I know that his commandment is eternal life

But now, having been freed from sin, and having become slaves to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end, eternal life

That one must not despise the judgments of God, but fear them, even if the recompense does not come immediately

But rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell

But if that servant says in his heart:

My master delays his coming;

and begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to get drunk;

the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect, and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in two, and will appoint his portion with the unfaithful

sin no more, lest something worse happen to you

Let no one deceive you with empty words;

for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience