Homilies on Ephesians 4

And you, being dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all also once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

There is indeed a bodily deadness;

but of that one there is neither blame to partake nor danger;

for the matter belongs to nature, not to choice.

For it came about from the transgression of the first-formed man, and thenceforth the matter passed into nature; and moreover it shall also be quickly dissolved.

But this deadness of the soul, being of the will, carries blame and admits of no dissolution.

See, then, how Paul, having already shown it to be a very great thing that to heal a soul that has been made dead is far greater than to raise the dead, now also sets it forth as great.

'And you,' he says, 'being dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience.'

Do you see Paul's gentleness, and how everywhere he consoles the hearer, not weighing him down? For since he had said that they had been driven to the utmost of wickedness (for this is what it means to have been made dead)—

so that he might not too heavily burden them (for men are ashamed when their former evils are brought into the open, even if they are done away with and carry no danger), he gives them a fellow-worker, so that the whole might not be thought to be theirs—and a strong fellow-worker at that.

Who then is this? The devil.

Just so he does also in the Epistle to the Corinthians;

having enumerated 'neither fornicators, nor idolaters,' and all the rest, and having added, 'shall not inherit the kingdom of God,' he then says:

He did not say simply, 'You were,' but, 'Some of you were.'

Here the heretics violently fasten upon us;

for they say that these things were spoken concerning God, and, giving free rein to their unbridled tongue, they attribute to God those things which belong to the devil alone.

How then shall we stop their mouths? From their very words.

For if He is righteous, as you yourselves also say, and yet did these things, then this is no longer the deed of a righteous being, but of one exceedingly unjust and vile;

but God could never be vile.

But why does he call him the ruler of this age? Because nearly the whole of human nature

has given itself over to him, and all serve him willingly and by their own choice.

And though Christ promises countless good things, no one gives Him heed;

but though that one promises nothing of the sort, but rather consigns them to hell, all yield to him.

And his rule is in this present age, and he has more subjects than God, and men yield to him rather than to God—except a few—because of our sloth.

'According to the authority,' he says, 'of the air, of the spirit.'

By this again he means that he occupies the region beneath the heavens, and that the bodiless powers of him who works are spirits of the air.

That his rule is also of this age—that is, to be dissolved together with the present age—hear him say at the end of the Epistle:

'Our wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age.'

For lest, hearing 'world-rulers,' you should say that he is uncreated, he adds, 'of the darkness of the age.'

And elsewhere he calls the perverse season an evil age, not speaking of created things.

For it seems to me that, having become a ruler under heaven, he did not fall from his rule even after the transgression.

'That now works,' he says, 'in the sons of disobedience.'

Do you see that it is not by force nor by tyranny, but by persuasion that he draws men on? For he said 'disobedience,' as one might say, 'By deceit and persuasion he draws all to himself.'

And it is not by this alone that he consoles them—by giving them a partner—but also by ranking himself with them.

'Among whom,' he says, 'we all also once conducted ourselves.'

For it cannot be said that anyone was exempt.

'In the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and we were by nature children of wrath, even as also all the rest';

that is, minding nothing spiritual.

But lest he should be suspected of saying these things in order to disparage the flesh, and lest anyone should think the fault to be a great matter, see how he safeguards it:

'doing,' he says, 'the desires of our flesh and of the thoughts'—that is, the passions of pleasure.

'We provoked God,' he says, 'and stirred Him to anger';

that is, 'We were wrath, and nothing else.'

For just as one who is the child of a man is by nature a man, so also we were children of wrath, even as the rest;

that is, 'No one was free, but we all did things worthy of wrath.'

'But God, being rich in mercy.'

Not simply 'merciful,' but 'rich,' just as also in another place he says:

'In the multitude of Your mercy';

and again, 'Have mercy on me according to Your great mercy.'

'Because of His great love, wherewith He loved us.'

He shows whence He loved us.

For these things were not worthy of love, but of wrath and of the utmost punishment.

And so, therefore, it was out of great mercy.

'And when we were dead in our trespasses, He made us alive together in Christ.'

Again Christ is set in the midst, and the matter is worthy of belief.

For if the firstfruits lives, then we also;

He made both Him alive and us.

Do you see that all these things are said concerning that which is according to the flesh? Have you seen the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe? The dead, the children of wrath—these He made alive.

Have you seen the hope of the calling? He raised us up together and made us sit together.

Have you seen the glory of His inheritance? 'Yes,' one says, 'but while the "raised us up together" is plain,'

'how does the "He made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" stand?' Just as the 'He raised us up together';

for as yet no one has been raised, except that, the Head having risen, we too were raised—just as there also, when Jacob did obeisance, his wife also did obeisance to Joseph.

So then, in this same manner He also made us sit together with Him; for when the Head is seated, the body too is seated together with it.

Or if it be not this, yet at least He raised us up together through the laver of baptism; how then did He make us sit together? For 'if we endure,' he says, 'we shall also reign with Him.'

'If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.'

Truly there is need of the Spirit and of revelation, that one may comprehend the depth of these mysteries.

Then, lest you should disbelieve, observe what he adds:

'That in the ages to come He might show forth the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.'

For since he had spoken the things concerning Christ, and these seemed to be nothing to us,

('For what,' one might say, 'is it to us, if He rose again?')—he accordingly showed that it is indeed something to us, seeing that this One has been united to us;

moreover, he also speaks of the things that concern us in particular:

'For while we were dead in our trespasses, He raised us up together and made us sit together with Him.'

So then, as I said, do not disbelieve, having received the proof both from the things that went before, and from the Head, and from His willingness to display His own goodness.

For how shall He display it, if this does not come to pass? 'And He will show it forth in the ages to come.'

Why? Because the good things were both great, and more worthy of belief than all else.

For now indeed the things spoken seem to the unbelievers to be idle talk, but then all shall know them.

Do you wish to learn also how He made us sit together with Him? Hear Christ Himself speaking to the disciples:

'You shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel';

and again, 'But to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.'

'In kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.'

For to sit at the right hand is an honor above all honor, one after which there is no other.

This, then, is what he means: that we too shall be seated.

Truly surpassing riches, truly surpassing the greatness of His power—to sit together with Christ!

Even if you had ten thousand souls, would you not give them up for His sake? For if it were necessary to enter into fire, ought this not to be readily endured? And He Himself again says:

'I will that where I am, there My servants also may be.'

For if we had to be cut in pieces every single day, ought we not eagerly to accept it for the sake of these things? Consider where He was seated.

'Above all principality and authority.'

And with whom are you seated together? With Him.

You, being what? Dead, by nature a child of wrath.

Truly now is a fitting moment to cry aloud:

'O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!'

'For by grace you have been saved,' he says.

For lest the greatness of the benefits should lift you up, see how he humbles you:

'By grace you have been saved,' he says.

Then, lest again free will should be undermined, he set down also the things that pertain to us;

and again he took it away, and says:

'Nor is the faith,' he says, 'of ourselves';

for if He had not come, if He had not called, how could we have believed? 'For how,' he says, 'shall they believe, unless they hear?' So then, not even the matter of faith is our own.

'For was not faith sufficient to save?' one might say. But that He might not save men empty and idle, God required this, he says.

He said that faith saves, but through God;

for since God willed it, faith saved.

For how does faith save, tell me, apart from works? This very thing is the gift of God: 'Lest anyone should boast'—that He might make men grateful concerning the grace.

'What then,' one might say, 'did He Himself hinder our being justified by works?' By no means;

but, 'No one,' he says, 'was justified by works,' so that the grace and the loving-kindness of God might be displayed.

He did not thrust away those who had works, but He saved by grace those who had been betrayed by their works, so that no one thereafter might have anything to boast of.

Then, lest having heard that the whole was accomplished not by works but by faith, you should remain idle, see what he added:

'For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.'

Here he hints at the regeneration.

Truly it is another creation;

we were brought from nonexistence into being.

That which we were before, we died to—that is, the old man;

and that which we were not before, we became.

So then the thing is a creation, and one more honorable than the other;

for from the former came our living, but from this latter came our living well.

'Unto good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them';

not that we should merely begin, but 'that we should walk';

for we have need of a virtue that is enduring and extended unto our very end.

For neither, if we had to travel a road leading to a royal city, and then, having accomplished the greater part of it, had grown faint near the very end and sat down—would the traveling have profited us anything;

so neither would the hope of the calling profit at all those who possess the thing, unless we walk worthily of Him who called us.

Having been called, then, unto good works, let us abide in them.

For this reason were we called: not that we should work one work, but that we should work all.

For just as we have five senses, and must use them all for their proper purpose, so also must we use all the virtues.

But if a man be chaste, yet unmerciful; or merciful, yet grasping; or if he abstain from what belongs to others, yet impart nothing of his own—all is done in vain.

For one virtue alone does not suffice to present us with boldness before the judgment seat of Christ, but we have need of much virtue, and manifold, and of every kind, and of all of it.

For hear Christ saying to the disciples:

'Go and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you';

and again, 'If anyone breaks one of these least commandments, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven'—that is, in the resurrection.

For surely he shall not enter into the kingdom;

for He knows how to call the very time of the resurrection itself the kingdom.

'If anyone break one,' He says, 'he shall be called least.'

And see how it is not possible to enter without mercifulness, but even if this alone be lacking, we shall depart into the fire.

'For depart,' He says, 'you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'

For what reason, and why? 'Because I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat;

I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink.'

Do you see how, though charged with nothing else, they perished for this alone? The virgins too were shut out of the bridal chamber for this alone, even though they possessed chastity;

but since they were destitute of the help that comes from almsgiving, they did not enter in together with the Bridegroom.

'Pursue peace with all,' he says, 'and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord.'

Consider, then, that without chastity it is not possible to see the Lord;

yet it is not altogether possible to see him merely by having chastity;

for often something else has stood in the way.

Again, if we should set everything else right, yet do our neighbor no good, not even so shall we enter into the kingdom.

From what is this clear? From the servants who were entrusted with the talents.

For there all his virtue was intact, and nothing was lacking;

but since he proved sluggish in putting it to work, he was justly cast out.

It is possible to fall into hell even from reviling alone;

for he says, 'Whoever says to his brother, "You fool," shall be liable to the hell of fire.'

And though a man should set everything else right, if he be insolent, he shall not enter in.

And let no one accuse God of cruelty, if he casts out of the kingdom of heaven those who have thus offended.

For even among men, if anyone commits any unlawful act whatsoever, he falls out of the king's sight, even if he transgresses but one of the established laws;

if he brings a false accusation, he loses his office;

if he commits adultery and is caught, he becomes unworthy;

if he has done ten thousand things aright, he is ruined;

if he commits murder and it is proved, this too is enough to destroy him.

But if the laws of men enjoy such careful observance, how much more those of God!

'But he is good,' one says. How long shall we keep uttering this foolish word? I called it foolish, not because he is not good, but because we suppose his goodness to be of use to us for such ends—though we have often discoursed at length upon this very point.

For hear the Scripture saying:

'Do not say, "His mercy is great; he will make atonement for the multitude of my sins."'

It does not forbid us to say, 'His mercy is great';

that is not what it exhorts, but rather it wishes us to say this continually—and it is for this reason that Paul sets everything in motion;

'Do not,' he says, 'on this account marvel at God's love toward mankind—that is, so as to go on sinning and saying:

"His mercy will make atonement for the multitude of my sins."'

For this is the very reason we too discourse so much about his goodness—not that, trusting in it, we may do anything we please (since then his goodness would work to the ruin of our salvation), but that we may not despair amid our sins, but repent.

For the kindness of God leads you to repentance, not to greater wickedness.

But if you become depraved on account of his kindness, you rather bring it into disrepute among men;

so that you shall pay the penalty for not having used it as you ought.

Is God loving toward mankind? Yes, but he is also a righteous judge.

Does he forgive sins? Yes, but he also renders to each according to his works.

Does he pass over unrighteousness and take away iniquities? Yes, but he also makes examination.

How then are these things not contradictory? They are not contradictory, if we distinguish them by their seasons.

He takes away iniquities here, both through the laver and through repentance;

he makes examination of what has been done there, through fire and torments.

'If then,' one says, 'having done but a few evils, I am cast out even for one of them and fall from the kingdom, why should I not do every evil?' This is the word of an ungrateful servant;

nevertheless, we shall resolve this argument too.

Do not do evil, in order that you may benefit yourself;

for from the kingdom we shall all alike fall, but in hell we shall not all pay the same penalty—one a greater, another a milder.

For if both you and that other have been contemptuous, then he who did many things and he who did few shall alike fall from the kingdom;

but if you have not been contemptuous in like measure—rather one more, the other less—you shall perceive the difference in hell.

'Why then,' one says, 'does he threaten those who have not given alms that they shall depart into the fire—and not simply into the fire, but into that prepared for the devil and his angels? For what reason, and why?' Because nothing so provokes God as to wrong his friends.

For if we must love even our enemies, then he who turns away even from those who love him, being in this respect worse than the heathen, of what punishment shall he not be worthy? So that here the magnitude of the sin justly caused such a man to depart together with the devil.

'For woe,' he says, 'to him who does not do almsgiving.'

But if this was so under the Old Covenant, how much more under the New!

If, where the acquisition and enjoyment and care of possessions was permitted, there was such forethought for aid to the poor, how much more where we are commanded to cast away everything!

For what did those men not do? Tithes, and again yet other tithes they rendered;

they gave relief to orphans, widows, and strangers.

But someone, marveling at a certain man, said to me:

With how much shame is this filled—that what among the Jews was no cause for wonder should among Christians have become a thing to marvel at? If then it was a peril to neglect tithes, consider how great a matter it is now.

Drunkenness, again, does not inherit the kingdom.

But what is the saying of the many? 'Well then, if both I and that other are in the same case, it is no small consolation.'

What then shall we say? First of all, you and that other will not enjoy the same punishment;

and besides, this is no consolation at all.

For fellowship in sufferings affords consolation only when the terrors are moderate;

but when it exceeds bounds and puts us beside ourselves, it no longer allows us to have any consolation.

For say to the man who is being tortured and has stepped into the fire, 'So-and-so also suffers this';

yet he will not even be sensible of the consolation.

Did not all the Israelites perish together? What consolation did this bring them? Did not this very thing rather grieve them? Wherefore they even said:

'We are lost, we have utterly perished, we are consumed.'

What kind of consolation, then, is this? In vain do we console ourselves with these hopes.

There is but one only consolation: not to fall into that unquenchable fire;

but once fallen in, it is not possible to obtain consolation, where there is the gnashing of teeth, where the weeping, where the worm that dies not, where the unquenchable fire.

For will you conceive of any consolation at all, tell me, being in such affliction and anguish? For you will thenceforth be left to yourself alone.

Let us not—I beseech and entreat you—let us not deceive ourselves in vain and console ourselves with these words, but let us do those things which are able to save us.

To sit together with Christ is set before us, and you are haggling over these matters? For even if there were no other sin, for these words how great a punishment ought we to undergo—that we are so slack, so wretched and slothful, as to speak thus when so great an honor is set before us? Oh, how many groans will you utter when you hear then those who wrought righteousness called to the kingdom and honored!

When you behold men sprung from slaves and from base birth, who have toiled here but a little while, sharing there in the royal throne forever!

having toiled here but a little, yet sharing there in the royal throne forever!

Will not this be to you worse than any punishment? For if now, when you see certain men held in honour, though you yourself suffer nothing evil, you reckon this to be worse than every torment, and are undone by this alone, and mourn for yourself, and weep, and judge yourself worthy of ten thousand deaths — what then will you undergo? For even if there were no hell, would not the very thought of the kingdom be enough to destroy and undo a man? And that this is so, one may sufficiently learn from the experience of actual affairs.

Let us not, then, idly beguile our souls with such words, but let us take heed, and be anxious for our own salvation, and be diligent in virtue, and rouse ourselves to the working of good things, that we may be counted worthy to attain so great a glory in Christ Jesus our Lord.