1. Since the Lord warns us, saying, “Ye are the salt of the earth,” and since He bids us to be simple to harmlessness, and yet with our simplicity to

 2. From which an example is given us to avoid the way of the old man, to stand in the footsteps of a conquering Christ, that we may not again be incau

 3. But, beloved brethren, not only must we beware of what is open and manifest, but also of what deceives by the craft of subtle fraud. And what can b

 4. If any one consider and examine these things, there is no need for lengthened discussion and arguments.  There is easy proof for faith in a short s

 5. And this unity we ought firmly to hold and assert, especially those of us that are bishops who preside in the Church, that we may also prove the ep

 6. The spouse of Christ cannot be adulterous she is uncorrupted and pure. She knows one home she guards with chaste modesty the sanctity of one couc

 7. This sacrament of unity, this bond of a concord inseparably cohering, is set forth where in the Gospel the coat of the Lord Jesus Christ is not at

 8. Who, then, is so wicked and faithless, who is so insane with the madness of discord, that either he should believe that the unity of God can be div

 9. Therefore also the Holy Spirit came as a dove, a simple and joyous creature, not bitter with gall, not cruel in its bite, not violent with the rend

 10. Hence heresies not only have frequently been originated, but continue to be so while the perverted mind has no peace—while a discordant faithless

 11. Against people of this kind the Lord cries from these He restrains and recalls His erring people, saying, “Hearken not unto the words of the fals

 12. Nor let any deceive themselves by a futile interpretation, in respect of the Lord having said, “Wheresoever two or three are gathered together in

 13. Thus, also, when He gave the law of prayer, He added, saying, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any that your Father

 14. Even if such men were slain in confession of the Name, that stain is not even washed away by blood: the inexpiable and grave fault of discord is n

 15. For both to prophesy and to cast out devils, and to do great acts upon the earth is certainly a sublime and an admirable thing but one does not a

 16. This evil, most faithful brethren, had long ago begun, but now the mischievous destruction of the same evil has increased, and the envenomed plagu

 17. Yet let not the excessive and headlong faithlessness of many move or disturb us, but rather strengthen our faith in the truthfulness which has for

 18. Thus Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who endeavoured to claim to themselves the power of sacrificing in opposition to Moses and Aaron the priest, under

 19. These, doubtless, they imitate and follow, who, despising God’s tradition, seek after strange doctrines, and bring in teachings of human appointme

 20. Nor let any one marvel, beloved brethren, that even some of the confessors advance to these lengths, and thence also that some others sin thus wic

 21. Confession is the beginning of glory, not the full desert of the crown nor does it perfect our praise, but it initiates our dignity and since it

 22. For the Lord chose Judas also among the apostles, and yet afterwards Judas betrayed the Lord. Yet not on that account did the faith and firmness o

 23. I indeed desire, beloved brethren, and I equally endeavour and exhort, that if it be possible, none of the brethren should perish, and that our re

 24. The Holy Spirit warns us, and says, “What man is he that desireth to live, and would fain see good days? Refrain thy tongue from evil, and thy lip

 25. This unanimity formerly prevailed among the apostles and thus the new assembly of believers, keeping the Lord’s commandments, maintained its char

 26. But in us unanimity is diminished in proportion as liberality of working is decayed. Then they used to give for sale houses and estates and that

2. From which an example is given us to avoid the way of the old man, to stand in the footsteps of a conquering5    Or, “living.” Christ, that we may not again be incautiously turned back into the nets of death, but, foreseeing our danger, may possess the immortality that we have received. But how can we possess immortality, unless we keep those commands of Christ whereby death is driven out and overcome, when He Himself warns us, and says, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments?”6    Matt. xix. 17. And again: “If ye do the things that I command you, henceforth I call you not servants, but friends.”7    John xiv. 15. Finally, these persons He calls strong and stedfast; these He declares to be founded in robust security upon the rock, established with immoveable and unshaken firmness, in opposition to all the tempests and hurricanes of the world. “Whosoever,” says He, “heareth my words, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, that built his house upon a rock: the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”8    Matt. vii. 24. We ought therefore to stand fast on His words, to learn and do whatever He both taught and did. But how can a man say that he believes in Christ, who does not do what Christ commanded him to do? Or whence shall he attain to the reward of faith, who will not keep the faith of the commandment?  He must of necessity waver and wander, and, caught away by a spirit of error, like dust which is shaken by the wind, be blown about; and he will make no advance in his walk towards salvation, because he does not keep the truth of the way of salvation.

II. Unde nobis exemplum datum est veteris hominis viam fugere, vestigiis Christi viventis insistere; ne denuo incauti in mortis laqueum revolvamur, sed, ad periculum providi , accepta immortalitate potiamur. Immortalitate autem potiri quomodo possumus, nisi ea quibus mors expugnatur et vincitur, Christi mandata servemus, ipso monente et dicente: Si vis ad vitam venire, serva mandata (Matth. XIX, 17). Et 0496B iterum: Si feceritis quaemando vobis, jam non dico vos servos, sed amicos (Joan. XV, 14, 15). Hos denique fortes dicit et stabiles, hos super petram robusta mole fundatos, hos contra omnes tempestates et turbines saeculi immobili et inconcussa firmitate solidatos. Qui audit, inquit, verba mea et facit ea, similabo eum viro sapienti qui aedificavit domum suam supra petram. Descendit pluvia, veneruntflumina, flaverunt venti et impegerunt in domum illam, et non cecidit; fundata enim fuitsuper petram (Matth. VII, 24, 25). Verbis igitur ejus insistere, quaecumque et docuit et fecit discere et facere debemus. Caeterum credere se in Christum , quomodo dicit qui non facit quod Christus facere praecepit? Aut unde perveniet 0497A ad praemium fidei, qui fidem non vult servare mandati? Nutet necesse est et vagetur, et, spiritu erroris abreptus, velut pulvis quem ventus excutit ventiletur; nec ambulando proficiet ad salutem, qui salutaris viae non tenet veritatem.