Chapter XIV.—Exhortations to faith and love.

None of these things is hid from you, if ye perfectly possess that faith and love towards Christ Jesus96    1 Tim. i. 14. which are the beginning and the end of life. For the beginning is faith, and the end is love.97    1 Tim. i. 5. Now these two, being inseparably connected together,98    Literally, “being in unity.” are of God, while all other things which are requisite for a holy life follow after them. No man [truly] making a profession of faith sinneth;99    Comp. 1 John iii. 7. nor does he that possesses love hate any one. The tree is made manifest by its fruit;100    Matt. xii. 33. so those that profess themselves to be Christians shall be recognised by their conduct. For there is not now a demand for mere profession,101    Literally, “there is not now the work of profession.” but that a man be found continuing in the power of faith to the end.

Wherefore none of the devices of the devil shall be hidden from you, if, like Paul, ye perfectly possess that faith and love towards Christ102    1 Tim. i. 14. which are the beginning and the end of life. The beginning of life is faith, and the end is love. And these two being inseparably connected together, do perfect the man of God; while all other things which are requisite to a holy life follow after them. No man making a profession of faith ought to sin, nor one possessed of love to hate his brother. For He that said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,”103    Luke x. 27. said also, “and thy neighbour as thyself.”104    Luke x. 27. Those that profess themselves to be Christ’s are known not only by what they say, but by what they practise. “For the tree is known by its fruit.”105    Matt. xii. 33.

Ὧν οὐδὲν λανθάνει ὑμᾶς, ἐὰν τελείως εἰς Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἔχητε τὴν πίστιν καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἀρχὴ ζωῆς καὶ τέλος· ἀρχὴ μὲν πίστις, «τέλος δὲ ἀγάπη». Tὰ δὲ δύο ἐν ἑνότητι γενόμενα θεός ἐστιν, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα πάντα εἰς καλοκἀγαθίαν ἀκόλουθά ἐστιν. Oὐδεὶς πίστιν ἐπαγγελλόμενος ἁμαρτάνει, οὐδὲ ἀγάπην κεκτημένος μισεῖ. «Φανερὸν τὸ δένδρον ἀπὸ τοῦ καρποῦ αὐτοῦ» οὕτως οἱ ἐπαγγελλόμενοι Χριστοῦ εἶναι δι' ὧν πράσσουσιν ὀφθήσονται. Oὐ γὰρ νῦν ἐπαγγελίας τὸ ἔργον, ἀλλ' ἐν δυνάμει πίστεως ἐάν τις εὑρεθῇ εἰς τέλος.