On Prayer 25.3
Summary: God's kingdom cannot coexist with sin's; if we put sin to death and bear the Spirit's fruit, Christ reigns in us until every enemy, even death, is defeated.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:358–359
ἔτι δὲ περὶ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλείας καὶ τοῦτο διαληπτέον, ὅτι, ὥσπερ οὐκ ἔστι „μετοχὴ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἀνομίᾳ“ οὐδὲ „κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος“ οὐδὲ „συμφώνησις Χριστῷ πρὸς Βελίαρ, “ οὕτως ἀσυνύπαρκτόν ἐστι τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλεία τῆς ἁμαρτίας. εἰ τοίνυν θέλομεν ὑπὸ θεοῦ βασιλεύεσθαι, μηδαμῶς „βασιλευέτω ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐν τῷ θνητῷ ἡμῶν σώματι, “ μηδὲ ὑπακούωμεν τοῖς προστάγμασιν αὐτῆς, ἐπὶ „τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκὸς“ καὶ τὰ ἀλλότρια τοῦ θεοῦ προκαλουμένης ἡμῶν τὴν ψυχήν· ἀλλὰ νεκρώσαντες „τὰ μέλη τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς“ καρποφορῶμεν τοὺς καρποὺς „τοῦ πνεύματος.“ ἵνα ὡς „ἐν“ „παραδείσῳ“ πνευματικῷ κύριος ἡμῖν ἐμπεριπατῇ. βασιλεύων ἡμῶν μόνος σὺν τῷ Χριστῷ αὐτοῦ, ἐν ἡμῖν „ἐκ δεξιῶν“ καθημένῳ ἧς εὐχόμεθα λαβεῖν „δυνάμεως“ πνευματικῆς καὶ καθεζομένῳ, „ἕως“ πάντες οἱ ἐν ἡμῖν ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ γένωνται „ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν“ αὐτοῦ καὶ καταργηθῇ ἀφʼ ἡμῶν πᾶσα ἀρχὴ καὶ ἐξουσία καὶ δύναμις. δυνατὸν γὰρ ταῦτα καθʼ ἕκαστον ἡμῶν γενέσθαι καὶ τὸν ἔσχατον ἐχθρὸν καταργηθῆναι, τὸν θάνατον, ἵνα καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν λέγηται ὑπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ· „ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ κέντρον; ποῦ σου, ᾅδη, τὸ νῖκος,·“ ἤδη τοίνυν „τὸ φθαρτὸν“ ἡμῶν ἐνδυσάσθω τὴν ἐν ἁγνείᾳ καὶ πάσῃ καθαρότητι ἁγιωσύνην καὶ „ἀφθαρσίαν, “ „καὶ τὸ θνητὸν“ ἀμφιεσάσθω, τοῦ θανάτου κατηργημένου, τὴν πατρικὴν „ἀθανασίαν“· ὥστε ἡμᾶς βασιλευομένους ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἤδη εἶναι ἐν τοῖς παλιγγενεσίας καὶ ἀναστάσεως ἀγαθοῖς.
English · Claude translation
Further, about the kingdom of God this must also be observed: just as there is no “partnership between righteousness and lawlessness,” nor “fellowship of light with darkness,” nor “accord of Christ with Belial,” so the kingdom of sin cannot coexist with the kingdom of God. If, then, we wish to be ruled by God, let “sin” in no way “reign in our mortal body,” and let us not obey its commands when it calls our soul to “the works of the flesh” and to what is foreign to God; but having put to death “the members that are on earth,” let us bear the fruits “of the Spirit,” so that the Lord may walk in us as “in” a spiritual “paradise,” ruling us alone with his Christ, who sits in us “at the right hand” of the spiritual “power” we pray to receive, and sits “until” all his enemies in us become “the footstool of” his “feet,” and every rule and authority and power is done away from us. For these things can happen in each of us, and the last enemy, death, can be done away, so that in us too Christ may say, “O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” Already, then, let our “corruptible” put on holiness in chastity and all purity, and “incorruption”; “and let the mortal,” death having been done away, clothe itself with the Father's “immortality”; so that, ruled by God, we may already be in the good things of regeneration and resurrection.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are 2 Cor 6:14–15, Rom 6:12, Gal 5:19 and 5:22, Col 3:5, Gen 3:8 (God walking in paradise), Ps 110:1 (109:1 LXX), 1 Cor 15:24–26 and 15:53–55, and Hos 13:14. Origen applies the eschatological passages of 1 Cor 15 to the present spiritual life of the believer, without denying their future fulfillment.
Cite this passage
Origen, Or. 25.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/25/3/).
Plain text
Origen, Or. 25.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/25/3/).
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