Homilies on Ephesians 6

'And He came and preached peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near;'

'for through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.'

'So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God,'

'having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone;'

'in whom all the building, being fitly framed together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord;'

'in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.'

'It was not through another,' he says, 'that He sent, nor through any other did He make these things known to us, but He Himself through His own self.'

He sent neither angel nor archangel, since to set right so many evils belonged to none other, but to His own presence, both to set them right and to announce the things that had come to pass.

The Master took upon Himself the rank of a servant and almost of a minister, and came, and preached peace: 'to you,' he says, 'who were far off, and to those who were near.'

'The Jews,' he says, 'were near, as compared with us;'

and by 'those far off' he hints at those from the nations, as being strangers to the covenants.

'For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.'

He speaks of the peace toward God;

and in another place He Himself also says, 'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you;'

and again, 'Take courage, I have overcome the world;'

and, 'Whatever you ask in My name, you shall receive;'

and again, 'For the Father Himself loves you.'

These are the tokens of peace, both toward these and toward those.

Toward these, in what way? Because through Him we both have obtained our access in one Spirit—not you the less and they the more, but by one and the same grace.

For He loosed the wrath by His death, and made us objects of love to the Father through the Spirit.

Behold again, the word 'in' is equivalent to 'through.'

Through Himself and the Spirit He brought us near to Him.

'So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow-citizens of the saints.'

Do you see that it is not simply among the Jews, but among those holy and great men—those about Abraham and Moses and Elijah—that we have been enrolled into the same city, that we are made manifest in that one? For those who say such things, he says, make it manifest that they are seeking a homeland.

No longer strangers of the saints, nor sojourners.

For those who are not destined to obtain the heavenly things are sojourners.

For the Son, he says, abides forever.

And 'members of the household,' he says, 'of God.'

That which they possessed from the beginning through so many labors, this has been accomplished for you through the grace of God.

'Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.'

See how he mingles all things together: the Greeks, the Jews, the apostles, the prophets, Christ.

And now from the body, and now from the

building, he shows their close conjunction.

'Being built,' he says, 'upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.'

That is, the foundation is the apostles and the prophets.

And he places the apostles first, though they are last in point of time;

either showing this and saying that both these and those are a foundation, and the whole is one building and one root.

Consider the Greeks as having the patriarchs for their foundation.

Here he states the more essential point rather than when he speaks of the grafting in.

Then he adds, 'Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone';

showing that it is Christ who holds the whole together.

For the corner-stone holds together both the walls and the foundations.

And it shows Him now from above holding together and compacting the whole body, and now from below bearing up the building, and being its root.

And by saying, 'He created in Himself into one new man,' by this he showed that through Himself He joined together both walls, and again that in Him it was created.

And, 'the First-born,' he says, 'of all creation';

that is, He Himself upholds all things.

'In whom all the building fitly framed together.'

Whether you name the roof, or the walls, or anything else whatever, He Himself upholds the whole.

And elsewhere he calls Him a foundation;

For 'no one,' he says, 'can lay another foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.'

'In whom all the building,' he says, 'fitly framed together.'

Here he indicates the exactness, and shows that it is not possible to be otherwise placed, unless one has lived with great strictness.

'For it grows,' he says, 'into a holy temple, in whom you also,' he says, 'are builded together.'

He states it yet more emphatically: 'into a holy temple, into a habitation of God in the Spirit.'

What then is the object of the building? That God should dwell in this temple.

For each one of you is a temple, and all in common are one, and He dwells as in the body of Christ, and He dwells as in a spiritual temple.

For this reason he did not say 'approach,' but 'access';

for we did not come of ourselves, but were brought near by Him.

'For no one,' He says, 'comes to the Father except through Me';

and again, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life.'

'You are builded together into a holy temple.'

Again he goes back to the former illustration, and joins them to the saints, nowhere allowing them to be severed from Christ.

So then this building lasts until the Coming;

so then it was for this reason that Paul said, 'As a wise master-builder I laid a foundation';

and again here, 'No one can lay another foundation than that which is laid, which is Christ.'

Do you see that the comparisons are to be taken with reference to the matters at hand, and not simply in themselves? He said this from comparisons, as when Christ calls the Father a husbandman, and Himself a root.

'For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ on behalf of you Gentiles.'

He had spoken of the great care of Christ;

he now passes on also to his own, which, though small and quite nothing in comparison with that, yet is even this sufficient to draw them to him.

'For this reason I too am bound,' he says.

For if my Master was crucified for your sake, much more am I bound.

Not only was He Himself bound, but He also allows His own servants to be bound on behalf of you Gentiles.

we no longer abhor you, but are even bound for your sake, he says, and I have enjoyed so great a grace.

'If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God which was given me toward you.'

He alludes to the prediction spoken to Ananias concerning him in Damascus, when He said:

'Go, for this man is a chosen vessel to Me, to bear My name before Gentiles and kings.'

By 'stewardship of grace' he means the revelation;

that is, I did not learn it from man;

He deigned to reveal it even to me, being but one, for your sakes.

For He Himself said to me, he says:

'Go, for I will send you far off to the Gentiles.'

He rightly called it a stewardship;

for it was a great act of stewardship to call from above one who was in no way to be persuaded, and to say:

'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?' and to blind him with that ineffable light.

'If indeed you have heard,' he says, 'of the stewardship of the grace of God which was given me toward you, that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before.'

Perhaps he had made it clear through certain persons, or he had written not long before.

He shows here that the whole is of God, that we contributed nothing.

For tell me, what of it? Was not Paul himself, the great and admirable, the man learned in the Law, who was educated with exactness at the feet of Gamaliel—was not even he saved by grace? This he rightly calls a mystery;

for it is indeed a mystery that the Gentiles should suddenly be raised up to a nobility greater than that of the Jews.

«As I wrote before,» he says, «in few words, briefly.»

«Whereby, when you read, you may understand.»

so that he did not write the whole, nor all that it was needful to write.

But here it was the very nature of the matter that produced this; whereas elsewhere it was wickedness, as among the Hebrews, as among the Corinthians.

«Whereby, when you read,» he says, «you may perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ»;

that is, how I understood, how I perceived either such things as God spoke, or that He sits at the right hand.

Then also the dignity of it, that «God has not done so to every nation»;

and, making clear what nation this is to which God has done so, he adds:

«Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit.»

What then, tell me? Did the prophets not know it? How then does Christ say that «Moses and the prophets wrote these things concerning Me»? and again, «If you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me»? and again, «Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me»? He means this, either that it was not revealed to all men;

for he added, «Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed»;

or that it was not made known in this way, through the actual deeds and works themselves, «as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit.»

Peter, had he not heard it from the Spirit, would not have gone to the Gentiles.

Therefore God gave them the Holy Spirit, even as also to us.

This is what he means by «in the Spirit,» namely, that it was through the Spirit that God counted them worthy to receive the grace.

The prophets, then, did indeed speak of it, but they did not know it thus exactly—seeing that not even the apostles knew it after they had heard;

for it far surpassed human reasoning and common hope.

«That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers.»

What is meant by «fellow-heirs and partakers of the promise, and of the same body»? This is the great thing: to be one body, this exceeding nearness.

For that they should be called, they knew; but that it should be on these terms, they no longer knew.

This, then, he calls the mystery of the promise.

The Israelites partook, but the Gentiles also became fellow-partakers of the promise of God.

«In Christ through the Gospel.»

That is, by his being sent to them also, and by their believing;

for it was not simply so, but «through the Gospel.»

But this is nothing great—it is a small thing; and he reveals to us another and greater thing, namely, that not only men, but not even angels, nor archangels, nor any other created power, knew this;

for this was a mystery, and it had not been revealed to anyone.

«To perceive,» he says, «my understanding.»

Perhaps he hints at this—what he said to them in the Acts, namely, what his understanding was: that the Gentiles too are called.

This he calls his own understanding, that of the mystery which he spoke of, namely, that «in Himself He would create into one new man.»

For it was from a revelation that he learned that one ought not to abhor the Gentiles—both he and Peter;

and this he says in his defense.

«Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me according to the working of His power.»

He said, «I am a prisoner,» but again he says that the whole is His, «according to the gift of His grace,» saying;

for it was according to the power of a gift that the dignity of this honor came to be.

But the gift would not have sufficed, unless He had also implanted power.

For it was truly a matter of great power, and human diligence did not suffice.

For he brought three things to the preaching: a fervent and daring zeal, a soul ready to endure absolutely anything whatsoever, and understanding and wisdom;

for love of danger was not enough, nor a blameless life, unless he had also received the power of the Spirit.

And behold this from him first—or rather, hear him as he writes;

and again, «For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in the word of flattery, nor in a cloak of covetousness.»

Do you see the blamelessness? And again, «Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.»

Then after these things, «I die daily, by our glorying which I have in Christ Jesus»;

and again, «Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution?» and again, «In much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments.»

«To the Jews I became as a Jew, to those without law as without law, to those under the law as under the law»;

and he shaves his head, and does countless such things.

But the sum of all is this: in the power of the Holy Spirit.

«For I will not dare,» he says, «to speak of any of those things which Christ has not wrought through me»;

and again, «For wherein were you inferior to the other Churches?» and again, «For in nothing was I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I am nothing.»

For without these things it is not possible.

It was not, then, on account of his signs that they became believers;

for it was not the signs that produced this;

nor did he think highly of himself because of these, but because of the other things.

For one must be both blameless, and a good administrator, and ready to risk danger, and apt to teach.

By these things he for the most part succeeded;

if these were present, there was no need of signs.

At any rate, we see him even before the signs having accomplished countless such things.

But now, we who have none of these things, wish to prevail over all.

For if the one be torn away from the other, what remains becomes useless.

For what profit is it to be ready to risk danger, if one's life be blameworthy? For «if the light that is in you be darkness,» He says, «how great is that darkness!» What profit is it to have a blameless life, if one be sluggish and drowsy? For «unless a man take up his cross,» He says, «and follow after Me, he is not worthy of Me»;

and, «Unless a man lay down his life for the sheep.»

And what profit is it to have both these, and not to be a good administrator, knowing how one ought to answer each single person? Even if the signs be not in us, both these things are in us.

But nevertheless, though he brought forward so much concerning himself, he ascribed the whole to grace.

And we should never even have learned of his achievements, had he not been brought to the necessity of the matter.

Are we then worthy so much as to make mention of Paul? That man, though he had grace to help him, was not content, but braved countless dangers;

but we, deprived of that boldness, from what source, tell me, do we expect either to keep those entrusted to us, or to gain those who have not yet come near—we, men who have practiced luxury and everywhere seek repose, and who cannot bear dangers even in a dream, or rather who are unwilling, and who are as far from that man's wisdom as heaven is from the earth? For this reason those under us also stand far removed from the men of that time, since the disciples of that day were better than the teachers of now, cut off in the midst of populace and tyrants, and having enemies on every side, and yet not for a moment dragged down or bent.

Hear, at any rate, what he says to the Philippians;

«Because to you it was granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.»

And to the Thessalonians again he says: 'You became imitators of the Churches of God which are in Judea.'

And writing to the Hebrews he said:

'And you accepted with joy the plundering of your possessions.'

And to the Colossians also he bears witness, saying:

'For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.'

And to these same people he testifies to many dangers.

And writing to the Galatians he says:

'Did you suffer so many things in vain? If indeed it was in vain.'

And you see them all devoting themselves to good works.

For this reason grace was then at work; for this reason too they lived in righteous deeds. But hear also what he writes to the Corinthians, against whom he brings countless charges:

Does he not also bear them witness, saying, 'But your zeal, but your longing'? And again, all that he testifies of them in this matter, such things one would not now see even among teachers.

So that all this has departed and perished.

And the cause is this: that love has grown cold, that those who sin are not chastised (for hear him writing to Timothy, and saying,

'Rebuke those who sin in the presence of all');

for when the head is not sound, how could the rest of the body remain in health? See then how great is the disorder now.

For those who live uprightly, and who have any boldness of speech, have withdrawn to the mountain-tops, and have removed themselves from the midst, being torn away as from a hostile and alien—not from their own—body;

while corrupters, laden with countless evils, have leapt into the Churches;

the offices of authority have become objects of purchase.

Countless evils are thence brought forth, and there is no one to correct them, no one to rebuke;

but the disorder has taken on a kind of established path and sequence.

Has someone sinned, and been accused? He does not hasten to prove himself innocent, but to be able to find partners in his crimes.

'What shall I suffer, seeing that hell is threatened?' Believe me, that if God had not reserved our punishment for that place, you would have seen day by day tragedies greater than the calamities of the Jews.

For what? But let no one be angry;

if someone coming into the church were to set forth you who are now here, who are with us, and were to make an examination;

or rather, not now, but if someone on the day of the Passover were to examine with accuracy all those who approach and are washed, after they have come to the mysteries—having received such a spirit as to know with exactness the things done by them—many things would be found far heavier than the evils of the Jews.

For he would find people practising divination, and using sorceries and omens and incantations, and having committed fornication, and having committed adultery, and drunkards, and revilers.

But the covetous I do not wish to mention, lest I touch also some of those standing here.

But what, if someone were to search out all those throughout the world who approach, what kind of transgression would he not find? And what of the rulers? Are they not eager for money, not buying their offices, not envious, not malicious, not vainglorious, not gluttonous, and slaves of money? Since then such great impiety is taking place, what dreadful thing ought we not to expect? And that you may learn to how great a punishment those are liable who are caught in these sins, consider the things of old:

one man, a soldier, stole sacred goods, and all perished.

Do you then know the history? I speak concerning Achar, who stole the devoted thing.

And then indeed the prophet said, that 'Their land was filled with divinations, as that of the foreigners.'

But now everywhere it is laden with countless evils, and no one fears.

God knows how to punish the righteous also along with the impious, as happened in the case of Daniel, in the case of the three young men, as in the case of countless others, as in the case of the wars that are still even now occurring.

For these lay aside through this whatever burden of sins they have, but those do not.

On account of all these things, let us take heed to ourselves.

Do you not see the wars? Do you not hear of the calamities? Are you not instructed by these things? Whole nations and cities have been submerged and destroyed, so many myriads are enslaved among the barbarians;

if we are not brought to our senses by hell, at least let us be so by these things.

Are these too mere threats, and not events that have actually come to pass? Those paid a great penalty, but we shall pay a greater, we who are not brought to our senses even by their calamities.

The discourse is burdensome, I too know it, but if we take heed to it, it brings gain.

For it is not possible to speak so as to please—or rather never so—but always the things that are able to restrain and bring the soul to its senses.

For these things become the causes of the good things to come;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and lovingkindness [of our Lord Jesus Christ].