Opuscula 3.0–3.13

… into the power of the working, which the faithful received, even before their practice, through the grace of baptism.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, providing for the salvation of all in a way worthy of God, as he himself knows, laid down the law of liberty in various teachings, yet set one goal fitting for all, saying, “Repent.” From this we can recognize that all the variety of the commandments comes down to the one definition of repentance, just as he commanded the apostles in summary, saying, “Say to them, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’” He did not at all mean a nearness of the kingdom in time, as though it were about to fall upon the world immediately (for the Truth would not define things in a way that did not fit the facts: see, both those living then and those after them have fallen asleep without sharing in the consummation of all things). Rather, the Lord, knowing that his own word has the power both of the kingdom and of repentance, says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” For if this is not granted, how is “the kingdom of heaven like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole was leavened”? Is it not because the mind that has received the word of God has hidden it in the threefold substance, I mean body, spirit, and soul, according to the apostle, and has gathered into the one leaven of faith all the subtlety of these in the thoughts, scattered in many parts like flour, waiting to be made wholly like the Word that works in it? In this way he likened the word of truth to a grain of mustard seed, sown small in the hearers' heart, but growing through fitting practice, and like a great tree in a high place, so becoming a house of refuge for the minds that come near. This will truly be so when, as he said, even the apostles were clean through the word which they had heard, having used the power that comes with the word for practice, and having become clean through it; for “the word of God is living and active.” That is why he condemned as unbelievers those who did not use such a contribution, saying, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.”

We have said this not as disbelieving in the future kingdom, which will certainly come at its own undetermined times, but because the word of the Lord holds the very power of the kingdom, becoming for the faithful the substance of things hoped for, the pledge of the future inheritance, the firstfruits of eternal goods, but for the unbelieving and profane a real refutation of their godlessness. That is why he says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” If, then, the word shows its hearers to be debtors of work merely by bringing into the heart the power of what is said, what shall we do, who have set aside not only words but many great benefits that came to us together with that power, and have hidden in the earth not only the one talent but also the five and the two, using the Lord's benefits in a bodily way? Through such benefits it is natural that even irrational animals, when treated well, obey the one who leads them, as far as their nature allows, so that even a wild beast turns from its fierceness to obedience to its benefactor. To that degree we, who were honoured with free will above all living things, have shown ourselves wilder than the beasts and more irrational than the irrational animals. For they are glad to be near one another, so that as they graze each is content with what comes to it and leaves what lies by to the other without envy; but we, appointed to govern and rule the irrational animals, have preferred the wickedness of nature, so that, with no compelling cause forcing us, we behave mercilessly and enviously toward our own kind. Such people, I think, John called serpents, offspring of vipers, who had found repentance as a way to flee from the wrath to come; he urges them to bear fruits worthy of it, commanding that whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and likewise with food. And if he compared to serpents, out of compassion, those who before faith did not know what was required, it would be an evil beyond comparison to sin without fear after faith, knowledge, and the gifts we have received.

I will pass over the hidden things, which each person can carry out in thought as he pleases; let me speak rather of what we practise when we are ill-disposed toward one another, especially toward those who seem to have wronged us, meeting neither small nor great according to God. Over those who are more obscure or poorer we openly exalt ourselves, wishing to lord it over them as over hired men or slaves, no longer defending nobility in Christ but in the flesh and in wealth. When we see one of the more important people sinning, we cannot rebuke him, but say to those present, “It is written, ‘Do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord comes.’” But when we find some small cause in the humbler, we immediately fall upon them, showing off and saying, “It is written, ‘Rebuke the one who sins before all.’” And so we perversely cover our own hypocrisy, that is, our wickedness, with testimonies from Scripture, and regard ourselves as rebuking them according to God. So much for those below us. Our equals we turn away from at once on small occasions, devising every means of revenge; and we are not reconciled to them until we have got our way with them. Seizing on that same pretext, rejoicing as if over something good, we display our wickedness; and after taking revenge, we then converse with them in a more friendly way, laying down our earlier victory of evil as the foundation of a second friendship. But the building must necessarily match the foundation, and seek strife again, so that a friendship never remains free of fighting for one who wishes to win, but hatred always follows the victory, as the divine Scripture says, “Hatred stirs up strife.” This disease befalls those who pursue first place in glory and money, like dysentery, the first of diseases; which the blessed Paul now heals, saying, “In humility outdo one another in honour, counting others better than yourselves.” So we are disposed toward the humbler, or toward our equals. As for our wickedness toward the more powerful, it is hidden and many-sided, and not easy to tell or even to understand. For we do not behave toward our superiors as keeping a commandment, but fawn on those we cannot harm; we look on their good fortune bitterly with an envious eye, and do not gladly hear their happiness even when it is proclaimed; in appearance and words we flatter them peaceably, but in our thoughts we are disposed against them, so that the saying is fulfilled in us: “who speak peace with their neighbours, but evil is in their hearts.”

We have said this about those who are carried about against their will, wishing to show that those who sin voluntarily are further off and incline to repentance with difficulty. For how is it not voluntary, if we do not wish to do what Daniel said and find forgiveness: “Redeem your sins by almsgiving, and your iniquities by compassion on the poor”? But perhaps you will say, “I have no money; how shall I show compassion to the poor?” You have no money, but you have wills: renounce them, and do good in them. You cannot do good with a bodily hand? Do good with a right purpose. When your brother sins against you, forgive him, according to the Lord's word, and it will be alms for you. If we seek forgiveness of sins from God, we ought to do this for every offence toward everyone, so that the saying may be fulfilled, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” It is a great thing for one who has money to share it with the poor; but to have mercy on one's neighbours in their sins is greater for forgiveness, as much as the soul is by nature more precious than the body. Those of us who have asked forgiveness from God and have often received it, so that we suffer nothing evil on that account, but do not consent to share the same with our neighbours, are like that wicked servant who, having received from his master forgiveness of ten thousand talents, did not forgive his fellow servant a hundred denarii. Speaking lawfully about him the Lord said, “You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me; should not you also have had mercy on your fellow servant (forgiving him what he owed), as I had mercy on you?” And being angry, he says, “Hand him over to the torturers until he pays all that is owed.” And he adds, saying, “So also my Father in heaven will do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother his trespasses from your hearts.” That is why elsewhere he pronounces wretched those who have been enriched by him with various benefits but have a merciless and unsympathetic way of life, saying, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” For truly our wealth is the abundance of the various gifts given us; but woe to us, because, having begged and often received mercy, we have shown mercy to no one when begged, but have received our consolation.

For in speaking of the rich, he does not blame all the wealthy. For among them are some who truly know how to manage wealth according to the will of God who gave it, and who receive a hundredfold in this age, as it is written; as blessed Abraham and righteous Job, being merciful, grew richer both here and in the age to come. But, as we said before, he blames those who have a grasping way of life and who, whether in money or in various kinds of compassion, appropriate God's gifts and will not show mercy to their neighbour. For it is not the Lord's creation that wrongs its possessor, but the greed that arises from injustice and its mother, mercilessness. Fleeing these utterly, those firm in faith renounced present things altogether, not hating God's creation without discernment, but believing Christ who commanded them to do this, and awaiting from him their daily sufficiency. So one can be rich even without money, holding back greedily a word, or knowledge, or any kind of compassion, the things granted to all in common. For he receives in order to share with one who does not have. Those who are disposed mercilessly toward their neighbour take on themselves the woe, because they have received their consolation. In a similar way the holy apostle James also says to those who are rich in this way, “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.” In allowing them to weep and howl, he urges us to repentance. And knowing that the passion is neglected, he says, “Your wealth has rotted”; as if to say it is useless if it is not shared with others: the wealth which many of us possess even without money, having buried our greed like gold in the treasuries of the mind. Of this the prophet also speaks most clearly: “My wounds have grown foul and festered,” calling his ungenerous and grasping way of life wounds; and by “have grown foul and festered” reckoning negligence until departure to be stench and rot. For some of us prefer to hide our wealth under the earth rather than share it with one who has nothing. Then indeed, when departure comes, such a wound stinks to the soul, as a cause of rot and folly; and becoming an eternal wound to it, it does not allow it to enter the heavenly kingdom of the firstborn, as the law declares about those who have a blemish. [6] Perhaps it is time to uncover the more grievous wounds too, and to show them to the physician of souls. For when holy Paul said, “Your abundance for their lack,” we do the opposite, snatching away the lack of the poor and adding it to our abundance. And this we do even without money. When we offend against a brother in some matter, we not only leave it unhealed, but the apology that we owed we tyrannically exact from him, doing nothing else than, as was said, adding their lack to our abundance, opposing Scripture, so to speak. But we must not despair on this account. Far from it! For we are not judged for the multitude of our evils, but for not wishing to repent and to know the wonders of Christ, as the Truth himself testifies: “Do you think,” he says, “that those Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled were greater sinners than all people on the earth? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them, do you think they were greater sinners than all people who live in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Do you see that we are condemned for giving up repentance? And repentance, I think, is not limited by times or circumstances, but is practised in proportion through Christ's commandments. Some commandments are more comprehensive, containing many particular ones within themselves and cutting off many parts of evil at once. For instance, it is written, “Give to everyone who asks you,” and “From him who takes what is yours do not hold it back,” and “Do not turn away from him who wishes to borrow from you.” These are particular; but comprehensive beyond them is “Sell your possessions and give to the poor,” and “Take up your cross and come, follow me,” meaning by the cross the patient endurance of afflictions that come. So whoever has given everything to the poor and taken up his cross has kept all the commandments mentioned at once. And again: “I wish,” it says, “that men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands”; and beyond these: “Go into your room and pray to your Father in secret”; and again, by praying without ceasing he has included prayer in every place. And again it says, “You shall not commit sexual immorality, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder,” and all such things; and beyond these, “Casting down reasonings and every high thing raised up against the glory of God.” Whoever casts down reasonings has shut out all the vices mentioned. Therefore the lovers of God who are firm in faith press on to the comprehensive commandments, and yet do not pass over the particular ones as they meet them in circumstances.

Hence I reckon that the work of repentance is woven of these three commandments: casting down thoughts, praying without ceasing, and bearing the afflictions that come. These must have not only an outward but also an inner practice, so as to make those who persevere in them dispassionate. Since, then, the work of repentance can be perfected by the three virtues mentioned, as the argument has shown, I think repentance always befits everyone, sinners and righteous alike, who wish to obtain salvation; for there is no limit of perfection at which one ceases to persevere in the practice of these virtues. For through them beginners are introduced to godliness, those in the middle make progress, and the perfect are confirmed, the virtues being cut short neither by times nor by achievements; except for the one who, from ignorance and false belief, easily inclines to pleasures, indulges in pleasure on the pretext of despair, takes up the opinion of the Novatianists, and casts out repentance, relying on the apostle when he addresses the Hebrews who sinned voluntarily and were baptized every day, saying, “Not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the teaching of baptisms.” He said this not casting out repentance, far from it, as they say, but teaching that in every work of repentance the one foundation is baptism in Christ, so that those from the circumcision who had believed should not be baptized every day. And he adds, “For it is impossible to renew again to repentance those who have once been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and have fallen away,” so that you may know that the renewal and foundation laid down for every repentance is holy baptism. And shortly after he adds, “For if we sin voluntarily after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.”

Since, then, the matters exist where the fitting words apply, clearly they are said not only to the Jews but to all who sin voluntarily; first among them are those who say there is no repentance after baptism, and who therefore, carried away by their own choice, work lawlessness. Holy Paul put first the words that come later, doing this by design, I think, so that the meaning might become clear to the more devout through searching the Scriptures, but hard to find for the careless and contemptuous, lest on the pretext of future repentance they sin without fear. Since, then, some deliberately persist in evil on the pretext of repentance, while others, not believing that there is repentance, have become callous and handed themselves over to the devil, and the passion is wicked and hard to heal in both, the Truth offers a help fitted to all, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”; so that not even the spiritual and those making progress neglect this command, feeling secure, as it were, about small and few things; for it says, “Whoever despises little things will fall little by little.” And do not say, “How can the spiritual man fall?” While he remains such, he does not fall; but when he accepts something contrary and remains unrepentant in it, that very small thing, lingering and growing, no longer endures to dwell with him alone, but drags him toward its own kindred, pulling him violently like a rope of long friendship. If he fights through prayer and cuts it off, he remains, though he has fallen short of his proper dispassion by as much as he stood apart from the passion of that evil. But if he is carried away to the end by the strength of what prevails, refusing the labour of fighting and prayer, he is necessarily ensnared by the other passions too; and so, led away by each in succession little by little by habit, he is cut off from God's help in the measure of his straying, and is carried off to greater evils, perhaps even against his will, by the violence of what has mastered him.

But you will certainly say to me, “At the beginning of the evil, could he not have entreated God not to fall to the uttermost?” And I say to you that he could; but out of carelessness he accepted the small thing into his will as nothing, and no longer prays about it, not knowing that this small thing becomes the entrance and cause of the greater; so with good, and so with evil. And when the passion has grown and has gained pasture through the will, it then rises violently against him even against his will. Then he understands and entreats God, fighting the enemy whom he unknowingly used to defend, fighting people on its behalf. And sometimes, when he is heard by the Lord, he does not accept the help, because it did not come as the person thought but as the Lord arranged for his good. For knowing our unseemliness and contempt, he gives people most of his help through affliction, so that we may not, being rescued without affliction, practise the same sins again. Hence we say it is necessary to endure what comes, and very fitting for repentance.

But you will certainly say to me, “Those who have truly pleased God and have reached perfection, what further repentance do they need?” That there have been and are such people, I agree; but listen with understanding, and you will know how even such people need it. God has said that falsehood is from the devil, and, wishing us to renounce everything, he adds: further, he reckoned looking at a woman to desire her as adultery, likened anger toward a neighbour to murder, and made known that we shall give account for an idle word. Who then is untried by falsehood, uninitiated in every desire that comes by looking, has never been angry and quarrelled with his neighbour, and has never been found the servant of an idle word, so as not to need repentance? Even if he is not such now, he once was, and owes repentance until death. But suppose some have been found free of these things and strangers to all evil from birth (which is impossible, since holy Paul says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace”); yet even if they were such, they are from Adam, and all have come under the sin of the transgression, and for this reason were condemned to the death of the sentence, being unable to be saved apart from Christ. When Christ was crucified and redeemed all by his own blood, then they too are ransomed. Then the Redeemer himself sets for all one definition comprehending all things, and says to the apostles, “Say to them, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’” Having at the same time laid down the commandments that accomplish repentance, he fixed their fulfilment until death, saying, “Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will keep it for eternal life”; and again, “and even his own life.” And he seals it, saying, “Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” If, then, he fixed repentance until death, as has been shown, whoever says he has completed it before death breaks the commandment by removing death.

Hence for small and great alike repentance remains incomplete until death. Even if we cannot reach that far in practice, we ought to pursue it in aim, lest by deliberately breaking the commandment we come under the judgment and be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Look for those who have passed through this life from the beginning, and you will find the mystery of godliness accomplished through repentance in those who pleased God. No one was condemned except one who despised it, and no one was justified except one who cared for it. Samson, Saul, and Eli with his sons, who already had partly shared in holiness, first lost it by neglecting repentance; and when the appointed time had passed, they finally fell into a death under judgment. The devil does not cease to war against us, and repentance ought never to be idle. The saints are compelled to offer it for their neighbours, since they cannot be perfected without active love. Learn how nature teaches us not to give it up until death. The mind cannot be idle in its rational activity; even if it is perfect and in good condition, it works on the right hand; but if on the pretext of perfection it ceases from the practice of good things, it certainly leans to the left; and refraining from the left, it is naturally drawn again to the right. The work of the right hand, for beginners, for those in the middle, and for the perfect, is prayer, casting down thoughts, and endurance of what comes; without these the other virtues cannot be achieved, and through them repentance becomes acceptable. If repentance is a request for mercy, … the one who has [it] needs to take care. For “everyone who asks receives.” If then “the merciful will receive mercy,” through this, I think, the whole world holds together, one helped by another by God's ordering. Through this God saved the Ninevites, and burned up the Sodomites who neglected it.

Even if we struggle in repentance until death, not even so have we fulfilled what is owed; for nothing is worth the kingdom of heaven. As we eat and drink, speak and hear, so we naturally owe it to repent. Once for all the one deserving it was put to death under the law; but he lives for the sake of repentance, and not for licence. Because of the sin of the transgression we were cleansed when baptized; once cleansed, we received commandments. Whoever does not keep the second has defiled the first, forgetting the cleansing of his old sins; and no one is found without failing daily, never omitting any of the things commanded. Therefore repentance would be necessary for all. It makes what was once voluntary now involuntary, through hating the passions and abstaining from the deed. Whoever limits it turns back and renews his old transgressions. Whoever has true knowledge knows that he also needs repentance; for each of them is set right by the other. Christ stood surety for us on condition of repentance; whoever gives it up sets aside his surety. Without repentance we can do nothing worthy in practice; but we are greatly shown mercy because of our purpose. Whoever forces himself until his departure and holds fast to it, even if he offends in something, will be saved through his forcing; for this the Lord promised in the Gospels. Whoever says he no longer needs it judges himself righteous, and is called an evil offspring by Scripture. Whoever is disposed with conceit of righteousness as though he had completed it is, without knowing it, coupled in turn with the pleasures, since conceit and boastfulness are pleasures. Whoever has conceit cannot be saved; for it is written, “The conceited and scornful man, the boaster, will accomplish nothing.” If humility harms the perfect not at all, let him not give up its cause either, repentance. Faithful Abraham and righteous Job called themselves earth and ashes; and these words are proof of humility. But whoever has had his fill of repentance cannot be humble. The three youths, truly great-souled and great martyrs, made confession from the midst of the burning flame, and saying that they had sinned and transgressed, they repented of their former evils, though they were already perfect; and almost the whole of their hymn has the force of repentance.

If, then, those who greatly pleased God and were shown perfect by their deeds used this help until death, who is left who is confident in himself on the pretext of righteousness and despises repentance? For my part I think that even if someone were holy like Paul or Peter, not even so would he choose to abandon the cause of humility. That is why Peter, hiding what was God's in this matter and making known what was his own, said to Cornelius, “Stand up; I myself also am a man”; and he confessed, “We have been taught by God to call nothing common or unclean.” And Paul, reckoning that he would nowhere fall short of the grace given him by Christ until death, said thus: “But I press on, if I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ,” meaning by laying hold perseverance until his departure; just as he writes to faithful Timothy, making plain to him the nearness of his departure, saying, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”; not measuring out for himself a halt and a limit in time, as though he had ended the race through perfection and no longer needed the struggles for the body of Christ, which is the church, struggles that never cease on earth; but he called his departure the end of the race and of the struggles. For he says, “I am already being poured out, and the time of my departure has come.” Do you see that he did not say, “I am at rest,” but, “I am already being poured out,” showing to all by such words and deeds that the limit of repentance is owed until dissolution and death to Christ the heavenly King? To him be glory for ever. Amen.