Homilies on Second Corinthians 22

"If any man trusts in himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that even as he is Christ's, so also are we."

The thing one might especially admire in Paul, along with the rest, is this: that having fallen into a great necessity of exalting himself, he accomplishes both things—this very thing itself, and also that he should not seem burdensome to the many because of this self-praise;

which one may see most of all in the Epistle to the Galatians.

For there too, having fallen into such a subject, he takes care of both these things;

which is among the most exceedingly difficult of tasks, and requires much skill.

And he both bears himself modestly, and says something great concerning himself.

But consider how here too he makes much of it.

For having rebuked those who deceived them, he did not stay his discourse with them alone, but from them he leaps over even to these;

and he continually does this in this way.

For he takes hold not only of the beguilers, but also of the beguiled.

For if he had let even these go unaccountable, they would not so easily have been set right by the things said to the others.

but they would even have been greatly puffed up, as not being liable to any charges.

For this reason he takes hold of them also.

And not this only is admirable in him, but that he also rebukes each party suitably.

Hear then what he says to these:

The charge is no small one, but even a very great one.

How so? Because the race of men is easily deceived, he says.

"You judge from the things that appear, from the fleshly, from the bodily."

What is it, "from the things that appear"? If a man is rich, if a man is puffed up, if a man is surrounded by many flatterers, if a man says great things about himself, if a man is vainglorious, if a man feigns virtue while not having virtue;

for this is what "You look on the things according to the face" means.

"If any man trusts in himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that even as he is Christ's, so also are we."

For he does not wish to become vehement from the very opening, but he grows little by little and rises to a climax.

But observe here the great sharpness, and how much of enigma there is.

For the phrase "of himself" is the mark of one intimating this:

"For let him not wait," he says, "to learn from us"—that is, through a rebuke directed against him—"but let him of himself reckon this, that even as he is Christ's, so also are we";

not that he was Christ's in the way that that man was, but that "Just as that man is Christ's, so also am I Christ's."

For it is not, indeed, that he himself belongs to Christ, while I belong to some other.

And having established this equality, he goes on to add also his own superiority, saying:

For even if I should boast somewhat more abundantly concerning the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down, I shall not be put to shame.

For since he was about to say something great, observe how he softens it.

For nothing so offends the mass of hearers as for a man to praise himself.

Wherefore, cutting away the burdensome part, he says this:

For even if I should boast somewhat more abundantly.

And he did not say, 'If anyone is confident that he is of Christ, let him consider that he falls far short of us';

for I have great authority from him, so as to punish and put to death whomsoever I will;

but what? For even if I should boast somewhat more abundantly.

And yet he had that which was unspeakable, but nonetheless he restrains it in his speech.

And he did not say, 'I do boast,' but 'If I should boast, if I should so wish';

at once both being moderate, and yet showing his superiority.

If then I should boast, he says, concerning the authority which the Lord gave me.

Again he ascribes the whole to Him, and makes the gift a common one.

For building up, and not for tearing down.

Do you see how again he assuages the envy that comes of self-praises, and draws the hearer to himself, by telling the need for which he received it? And how does he say, 'Casting down reasonings'? Because this very thing is above all a kind of building up—to take away the hindrances, to refute what is rotten, and to put together what is true.

For this end, then, we received it—that we might build up.

But if anyone should box and make war and be incurable, we shall employ also the other operation, casting him down and overthrowing him.

Wherefore also he says, 'I shall not be put to shame';

that is, 'I shall not be proved a liar, nor a braggart.'

But that I may not seem, as it were, to be terrifying you—for 'his letters,' they say, 'are weighty and strong, but the presence of his body is weak, and his speech contemptible';

let such a one consider this, that such as we are in word by letters when absent, such also we are in deed when present.

I could indeed have boasted;

but that they may not again say the same things—that I am boastful when I write letters, and contemptible when present—I will say nothing great.

And indeed later on he did speak out, yet not about this power by which he was formidable, but about revelations, and still more about trials.

to terrify you: Let such a one consider this, that such as we are in word by letters when absent, such also we are in deed when present.

For since they were saying that he writes great things about himself, but when present is of no account;

on this account he says these things, and these too again in a restrained manner.

For he did not say, 'As we write great things by letters, so also we do great things when present';

For when he was discoursing to those men, he set it down with vehemence, saying, 'But I beseech you that I may not, when present, be bold with the confidence wherewith I count to be daring against certain persons';

but when to these, he lowered his tone.

Wherefore also he says, 'Such as we are when present and when absent';

that is, humble, restrained, nowhere boastful.

For we dare not rank or compare ourselves with certain of those who commend themselves.

Here he shows both that those men are boasters, and that they utter great things about themselves;

and he ridicules them as commending themselves.

But we do nothing of the sort;

rather, if we have wrought even any great things, we refer them all to God, and compare ourselves with one another;

wherefore also he added, 'But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding.'

We do not compare ourselves with those men, but with one another.

For indeed, going on, he said, 'I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles';

and in the former Epistle, 'I labored more abundantly than they all';

and again, 'Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience.'

So then, we compare ourselves with ourselves, not with those men who have nothing;

for such madness as that is a mark of folly.

Either, then, he says this concerning himself, or concerning those men—that 'We dare not compare ourselves with those who contend against one another and boast great things, and are without understanding'; that is, who do not perceive how ridiculous they are in boasting such things, and in exalting themselves among one another.

But we will not boast beyond measure, as these men do.

For it was likely that they, boasting, would say that 'We have turned the world about, we have reached to the ends of the earth,' and would speak grandly of many other such things.

But we are not so, he says: rather, according to the measure of the province which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you.

So that from both sides his humility is evident—both that he said nothing more than he wrought, and that this very thing he ascribes to God.

For according to the measure, he says, of the rule which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you.

Just as one distributing a vineyard among husbandmen, so he marked it out for us.

As far, then, as we were counted worthy to reach, so far do we boast.

For we do not overstretch ourselves, as though not reaching unto you;

for we came even as far as you in the gospel of Christ.

We did not simply arrive, but we announced, we preached, we persuaded, we set things aright.

For it was likely that those men, merely arriving among the disciples of the apostles, would reckon the whole to themselves, out of the bare visit.

nor could anyone say that we did not have strength to come as far as you, and that only in word do we stretch our boasting as far as ourselves;

for indeed to you also we preached the word.

Not boasting beyond measure, that is, in other men's labors, but having hope, as your faith increases, to be magnified among you according to our rule unto abundance, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's rule of things made ready to hand.

From this he shows the great accusation against those men—that they boasted both beyond measure, and in things belonging to others, and that whereas all the sweat was the apostles', those men decked themselves out with the others' labors.

But we, he says, have demonstrated these things through our deeds.

We will not, therefore, imitate those men, but where our works bear witness to us, there will we speak.

And why do I speak of you? he says. For I have hope, as your faith increases;

for he does not make a declaration absolutely, imitating his own character, but 'I hope,' he says, 'as you make progress, that our rule will reach even further';

will be extended, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond.

For we shall advance even further, he says, so as to preach and to toil, not so as to boast in words concerning things at which others labored.

And well did he call it a rule and a measure, as one who had come to the possession of the world and to a most excellent inheritance, and showing the work to be wholly God's.

Having, then, such works, he says, and expecting greater ones, we do not boast, as those men do who have nothing, nor do we reckon anything to ourselves, but the whole to God.

Therefore he also adds, 'Let him that glorieth glory in the Lord.'

And this too, he says, comes to us from God.

For it is not he that commendeth himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

He did not say, 'It is we,' but, 'Whom the Lord commendeth.'

Do you see how modestly he speaks? And if, as he proceeds, he raises himself to loftier things, do not be amazed;

for this too belongs to Paul's discretion.

For if he were everywhere going to speak lowly things, he would not have so struck them, nor would he have delivered the disciples from their error.

For it is possible both to do harm by being moderate at the wrong time, and to do good by saying something admirable about oneself at the right time.

Even as he himself did.

For there was no small danger that the disciples should be persuaded of something base concerning Paul—not because Paul sought the glory that comes from men.

For if he had sought this, he would not have kept silent so long a time about those great and marvelous things that happened fourteen years before;

nor, when necessity pressed upon him, would he thus have shrunk back and hesitated to speak.

And it is plain that he would not have spoken even then, had he not been very strongly compelled.

Therefore it was not in quest of the glory that comes from men that he said these things, but out of care for the disciples.

For since they slandered him as a boaster who blustered in words but could show nothing in deeds, he is at last compelled to come to those revelations.

And yet, though he was able at the time he said these things to persuade them by his deeds, he nevertheless still used the threat conveyed by words;

for above all he was clear of vainglory;

and his whole life shows this, both his former life and that which came after.

For this very reason he changed all at once, and having changed he confounded the Jews, and cast away all that honor which came from them, although he was their chief and himself their champion.

But he thought nothing of those things, since he had found the truth, but took in exchange for them their insults and dishonors;

for he looked to the salvation of the many, esteeming this to be everything.

For he who counted neither hell nor kingdom to be anything, nor ten thousand worlds, in comparison with his longing for Christ—how could he have been hunting after the glory of the many? By no means;

but he is even exceedingly humble whenever it is allowed, and he brands his own former life, calling himself a blasphemer and a persecutor and an insolent man.

And his disciple Luke also says many things about him, evidently having learned them from Paul himself, who paraded his former life no less than that which came after.

These things I say, not that we may merely hear them, but that we may also learn from them.

For if he remembered his transgressions before the laver, although all had been blotted out, what pardon shall we have who forget those committed after the laver? What sayest thou, O man? Thou hast offended God, and dost thou forget it? This is a second offense, a second act of enmity.

Of what sins, then, dost thou seek forgiveness—of those which thou dost not even thyself know? Yes, certainly.

For thou art not anxious and careful how thou shalt give account, thou who dost not even take pains to remember them, but playest in matters that are no laughing matter.

But there will be a time when our sport shall no longer avail us.

For we must certainly die (for on account of the great insensibility of the many one must discourse even about things manifest), and rise again certainly, and be judged certainly, and be punished;

or rather, this last not certainly, if we are willing.

For of those things we are not masters—neither of our death, nor of our resurrection, nor of the judgment—but our Master is;

but of paying the penalty, or not, we are masters;

for this is among the things that lie within our power.

But if we are willing, we shall make it a thing impossible, even as Paul did, as Peter, as all the saints;

for it is impossible for those to be punished.

Let us be willing, and it is likewise impossible for us to suffer anything.

For even if we have transgressed ten thousand times, it is possible to recover ourselves, so long as we are here.

Let us therefore recover ourselves;

and let the old man consider that a little while later he shall depart, when he has sufficiently reveled in his years (though what revelry is this, to pass one's days in wickedness? but for the present I speak thus in deference to his own opinion);

let him consider after this that it is in his power in a short time to wash away the whole.

Again, let the young man too reckon the uncertainty of death, and that often, while many elders remain here, the young are carried off before them.

For lest we should scheme about our end, on this account it lies in uncertainty.

Therefore also a certain wise man exhorts, saying, 'Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord, and put not off from day to day;

for thou knowest not what the morrow shall bring forth.'

For from putting it off come danger and fear, but from not putting it off come salvation clear and secure.

For thus, even if thou depart young, thou hast departed in safety;

and if thou come to old age, thou hast departed with great abundance;

and thou shalt keep a double feast throughout thy whole life, both abstaining from wickedness and laying hold on virtue.

Say not, 'There will be a time when I ought to turn back;'

for these words greatly provoke God to anger.

Why so? Because He has promised thee ages without end, but thou art not willing to labor even for the present life, this brief and passing one, but art so slack and unmanly as to seek one even shorter than this.

Are there not the same revels day by day? the same tables? the same harlots, the same theaters? the same riches? How long wilt thou love these things as though they were lasting? How long wilt thou keep thine insatiable desire for wickedness? Consider that as often as thou hast committed fornication, so often hast thou condemned thyself.

For such is the nature of sin;

no sooner has it been committed than the judge has brought in his verdict.

Hast thou been drunken, hast thou gorged thyself, hast thou plundered? Stand still at last, turn back the opposite way, give thanks to God that He did not snatch thee away in the midst of thy sins;

seek not yet another set term for working evil.

Many were snatched away in the very act of defrauding, and departed to manifest judgment.

Fear lest thou too suffer this, without defense.

But God has given to many a set time to make confession even in extreme old age.

What then? Will He give it to thee also? 'Perhaps He will,' he says.

What meanest thou by 'perhaps,' and 'sometimes,' and 'often'? Consider that thou art taking counsel about thy soul, and set down the opposite side too, and reckon and say, 'But what if He should not give it?' 'And what if He should give it?' he says. He did indeed give it; yet this course is safer and more gainful than that.

For if thou begin now, thou hast gained the whole, whether thou receive a further term or receive it not;

but if thou art always putting it off, for this very reason thou wilt often not receive it.

But when thou goest forth to war, thou dost not say, 'There is no need to make my will, perhaps I shall come back;'

nor, when deliberating about marriage, dost thou say, 'Let me take a poor wife, many have thus grown rich beyond expectation;'

nor, when building a house, 'Let me lay rotten foundations, many houses have thus stood firm;'

but when deliberating about thy soul, thou dost undertake the more rotten courses, setting down thy 'perhaps' and 'often' and 'sometimes,' and committing thyself to uncertainties? 'Not to uncertainty,' he says, 'but to the loving-kindness of God;'

but this God, who loves mankind, also snatched away those of whom I spoke.

And what if, having received time also, thou remain the same? For such a one will be slothful even in old age.

For this same reasoning, even after the eightieth year, seeks the ninetieth, and after the ninetieth, the hundredth, and after the hundredth it will only grow more sluggish.

And thus the whole of life will be squandered in vain, and what was said concerning the Jews will befall you also:

that 'Their days were consumed in vanity.'

And would that it were only in vanity, and not also unto evil!

For when we depart to that place bearing the heavy burden of our sins (for this is what 'unto evil' means), we shall carry food for the fire, and a plentiful table for the worm.

Wherefore I beg and beseech you to stand at last like men of noble spirit, and to withdraw from wickedness, that we may also attain the good things that have been promised;

that we may attain them, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, and honour, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.