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in Asia; but when they came to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them." As one who foreknows all things, and as a God with free will, He did not permit them to speak in one place, or to go to another, for their own good; making Himself equal to the Son, who said: "Carry no purse, or staff, or sandals;" and again the apostles and the elders say: "For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater 39.624 burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well." What has seemed good to one who is subordinate, and not a lord, no one accepts; but whatever seems good to a king and to those appointed by him, this is law, bringing praise to the obedient, but danger to the disobedient. "For disobedience," he says, "works death; but obedience, eternal life;" For a king is mightier when he is angry with a lesser man. Just as, therefore, a king is accustomed to send down his own laws to the great rulers nearest him, to whom he has given the reins of those who are ruled; and they, bringing them to the knowledge of all by publishing them, submit to what has been decreed by the king, and threaten danger to transgressors; so also the apostles, whom God appointed first, knowing the free will of the Spirit, and His consubstantiality with the Father, wrote: "It seemed good," he says, "so and so to the Holy Spirit as to a king, and a ruler, and a guardian of the race; and to us also, as having been set apart to preside over the faith and the Churches." "If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well;" but if you transgress, he says, you will suffer the opposite. For they remembered what the Savior had said to them in the Gospel according to Mark: "For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit." And so that no one might suppose that the main point we are now pursuing is a small thing, but should believe that the will, the command, and the energy of the Holy Trinity are the same, from which it follows that its divinity is also the same; Paul, who was first a student of the law and a persecutor, and was later shown to be an initiator into the mysteries of the ineffable economy itself, declares harmonious things concerning the Father and the Son, 39.625 writing first to the Corinthians: "And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers;" and elsewhere: "I say, not I, but the Lord, that a wife should not be separated from her husband;" but to the Galatians: "When it pleased God, who had set me apart from my mother's womb, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles;" and in another place: "But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts" And no less also did the Savior deign to say to the disciples: "I chose you."

3. That He legislates and commands authoritatively what is fitting for each of the works, as a king who has assumed a gentle and lawful rule, and bestows infinite peace upon the whole of heaven and the world, and has joined the ruling power with that of a guardian. It belongs only to the nature that is queen of all to establish laws and to judge; but to a creature, to be under law and judgment. For Paul, the chosen vessel, as we have already said, defined it, writing: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death;" and the Acts of the Apostles has it thus: "While Peter was pondering the saying, the Spirit said to him: 'Behold, three men are looking for you. But rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them';" and again: "And the Spirit said to Philip, 'Go over and join this chariot';" and again from Agabus the prophet: "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'This is how they will bind the man who owns this belt';" and Paul:

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Ἀσίᾳ· ἐλθόντες δὲ κατὰ τὴν Μυσίαν, ἐπείραζον εἰς τὴν Βηθυνίαν πορευθῆναι, καὶ οὐκ εἴασεν αὐτοὺς τὸ Πνεῦμα Ἰησοῦ." Ὡς πάντα προγιγνώσκων, καὶ αὐτεξούσιος Θεὸς, ὄπου μὲν λαλῆσαι, ὅπου δὲ πορευθῆναι αὐτοὺς οὐκ ἀφῆκεν, διὰ τὸ συμφέρον· ἴσον ποιῶν τῷ Υἱῷ, εἰπόντι· "Μὴ βαστάζετε πήραν, ἢ ῥάβδον, ἢ ὑποδήματα·" καὶ αὖθις οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροί φασιν· "Ἔδοξεν γὰρ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι καὶ ἡμῖν, μηδὲν πλέον ἐπι 39.624 θέσθαι ὑμῖν βάρος, πλὴν τούτων, ὧν ἐπάναγκες ἀπέχεσθαι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ εἰδωλοθύτων, καὶ αἵματος, καὶ πνικτοῦ, καὶ πορνείας· ἐξ ὧν διατηροῦντες ἑαυτοὺς, εὖ πράξετε." Τὸ δόξαν τῷ ὑπεξουσίῳ, καὶ μὴ κυρίῳ, οὐδεὶς προσίεται· πᾶν δὲ ὅ τι ἂν δόξῃ βασιλεῖ καὶ τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ προχειρισθεῖσιν, τοῦτο νόμος. τοῖς μὲν ὑπηκόοις ἔπαινον, τοῖς δ' ἀπειθοῦσι κίνδυνον φέρων. "Ἡ" γὰρ "παρακοὴ," φησὶν, "θάνατον κατεργάζεται· ἡ δὲ ὑπακοὴ, ζωὴν αἰώνιον·" Κρείσσων γὰρ βασιλεὺς, ὅτε χώσεται ἀνδρὶ χέρηϊ. Καθὰ τοίνυν εἴωθεν βασιλεὺς μὲν τὰς ἑαυτοῦ νομοθεσίας τοῖς ἔγγιστα μεγάλοις ἄρχουσι καταπέμπειν, οἷς τὰς ἡνίας τῶν ἀρχομένων δέδωκεν· ἐκείνους δὲ, πάντων εἰς γνῶσιν φέρειν τυποῦντας, ὑποκύπτειν τοῖς παρὰ βασιλέως θεσπισθεῖσιν, καὶ ἀπειλοῦντας τοῖς παραβαίνουσιν κίνδυνον· οὕτω καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι, οὓς ἔθετο πρώτους ὁ Θεὸς, τὸ αὐτεξούσιον τοῦ Πνεύματος, καὶ τὸ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα ὁμοούσιον εἰδότες, ἐπέστελλον· Ἔδοξεν, φησὶν, τάδε καὶ τάδε τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι ὡς βασιλεῖ, καὶ ἐξουσιαστῇ, καὶ κηδεμόνι τοῦ γένους· καὶ ἡμῖν δὲ, ὡς προεστηκέναι ἀφορισθεῖσιν τῆς πίστεως καὶ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν. "Ἐξ ὧν διατηροῦντες ἑαυτοὺς, εὖ πράξετε·" παρατρώσαντες δὲ, φησὶν, τὸ ἐναντίον πείσεσθε. Ἐμέμνηντο γὰρ τοῦ Σωτῆρος αὐτοῖς εἰρηκότος ἐν τῷ κατὰ Μάρκον Εὐαγγελίῳ· "Οὐ γάρ ἐστε ὑμεῖς οἱ λαλοῦντες, ἀλλὰ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον." Καὶ ὥστε μήτινα ὑπολαβεῖν μικρὸν εἶναι, ὃ μέτιμεν νῦν κεφάλαιον, πιστεύειν δὲ τὴν αὐτὴν εἶναι τῇ ἁγίᾳ Τριάδι θέλησιν, πρόσταξίν τε, ἐνέργειάν τε, οἷς ἕπεται τὸ καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν εἶναι αὐτῇ θεότητα· Παῦλος ὁ πρῶτον γενόμενος νομομαθὴς καὶ διώκτης, καὶ ὕστερον αὐτῆς τῆς ἀφθέγκτου οἰκονομίας ἀναδειχθεὶς μυσταγωγὸς, συνᾴδοντα περὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ διαγορεύει, 39.625 γράψας Κορινθίοις μὲν τὸ πρῶτον· "Ἀλλ' οὓς μὲν ἔθετο ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ πρῶτον ἀποστόλους, δεύτερον προφήτας, τρίτον διδασκάλους·" καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· "Λέγω δὲ οὐκ ἐγὼ, ἀλλ' ὁ Κύριος, γυναῖκα ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς μὴ χωρισθῆναι·" Γαλάταις δέ· "Ὅτε εὐδόκησεν ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ ἀφορίσας με ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου, ἀποκαλύψαι τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν ἐμοὶ, ἵνα εὐαγγελίζωμαι αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν·" καὶ ἑτέρωθι· "Καθὼς καὶ δεδοκιμάσμεθα ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ πιστευθῆναι τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, οὕτως λαλοῦμεν, οὐχ ὡς ἀνθρώποις ἀρέσκοντες, ἀλλὰ τῷ Θεῷ τῷ δοκιμάζοντι τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν" Οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ τοῖς μαθηταῖς εἰπεῖν ἠξίωσεν· "Ἐγὼ ὑμᾶς ἐξελεξάμην."

Γʹ Ὅτι νομοθετεῖ καὶ προστάττει ἀποφαντικῶς ἑκάστοις τῶν ἔργων τὸ πρόσφορον, ὡς βασιλεὺς ἥμερον καὶ νόμιμον ἀνημμένος ἡγεμονίαν, καὶ εἰρήνην ἄπειρον τῷ σύμπαντι οὐρανῷ τε καὶ κόσμῳ βραβεύων, καὶ τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν μετὰ τοῦ κηδεμονικοῦ ἁρμοσάμενος. Μόνης δὲ τῆς τῶν ὅλων βασιλίδος φύσεως, τὸ θεσμοθετεῖν καὶ κρίνειν· ποιήματος δὲ, τὸ ὑπὸ νόμον καὶ κρίσιν τελεῖν. ∆ιωρίσατο γὰρ Παῦλος μὲν τὸ σκεῦος τῆς ἐκλογῆς, ὡς ἔφαμεν ἤδη, γράψας· "Ὁ γὰρ νόμος τοῦ Πνεύματος τῆς ζωῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἠλευθέρωσέν με ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ τοῦ θανάτου·" αἱ δὲ ἀποστολικαὶ Πράξεις, ἔχουσαι ὧδε· "Τοῦ Πέτρου διανοουμένου περὶ τοῦ ῥήματος, εἶπεν αὐτῷ τὸ Πνεῦμα· Ἰδοὺ ἄνδρες τρεῖς ζητοῦσίν σε. Ἀλλὰ ἀναστὰς κατάβηθι. καὶ πορεύου σὺν αὐτοῖς, μηδὲν διακρινόμενος· ὅτι ἐγὼ ἀπέσταλκα αὐτούς·" καὶ πάλιν· "Εἶπεν τὸ Πνεῦμα τῷ Φιλίππῳ· Πρόσελθε, καὶ κολλήθητι τῷ ἅρματι τούτῳ·" καὶ αὖθις ἀπὸ Ἀγάβου προφήτου· "Τάδε λέγει τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· Τὸν ἄνδρα, οὗ ἐστιν ἡ ζώνη αὕτη, οὕτω δήσουσιν·" καὶ Παῦλος·