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knowing why they act and for what end, and what things they have already been deemed worthy of according to the grace that was given. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power. He speaks of the greatest excess of power, which supplies to us the life-giving of the dead. For it is a great thing for mortals from of old to rise, to be presented as a living multitude in a short time. Therefore, to the unbelieving the excess is unbelievable, according to what is said: In the greatness of your power your enemies shall lie to you. Which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named. God has shown us in Christ, he says, the greatness and the excess of what he has bestowed upon us. For he raised us up together and made us sit together in Christ in the heavenly places. For since our body was not of itself receptive of the life-giving power and energy, because it was a body of death, with sin dwelling in it on account of the transgression, for this reason the Only-Begotten made it his own, so that by keeping it sinless, he might prepare it to become receptive of both life and glory. And this is the meaning of, he raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places. Not only in this age, but also in the one to come; and he has put all things under his feet. The glory is continuous, beginning indeed from the present age, but extending into the infinite age; because this is the power of our incorruptible and glorious permanence, that the author of life remains forever. And he gave him as head over all things to the Church. So that the heavenly powers are no longer a head over us, as we were also under guardians and managers, according to the sacred voice of the Apostle. Which is his body. His body, the Church, according to the participation of the Holy Spirit. 95.829 The fullness of him who fills all in all. The Church is, he says, that which is receptive of him who extends through all things, formerly the heavenly, but now also the earthly.

CHAPTER 2. And you being dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you once

walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all also once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. You, he says, from the Gentiles, who were singled out for death on account of the sin in which you lived under the evil demon who ruled through the evil thoughts that entered into you, God, having deemed you worthy of mercy and of voluntary grace, changed your deadness in sin into life by communion with Christ. For what belongs to Christ, this passes to us who are joined to him. And he says that those who had the law suffered the same things as the Gentiles in sins, in order to show the greatness of God's gift, that he saved all who were held by corruption. And he raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves. We are the flesh of Christ, and members, and body, and the Father gave him as our head. We are already in heaven, inasmuch as we are in Christ, and we will have the enjoyment of good things later, when the good things in Christ will come forth into the open, being now inexplicable and innumerable; wherefore

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εἰδότες, δι' ὃ πράττουσι καὶ ἐπὶ ποίῳ τέλει, καὶ τίνων ἤδη κατηξίωνται κατὰ τὴν δοθεῖσαν χάριν. Καὶ τί τὸ ὑπερβάλλον μέγεθος τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ εἰς ἡμᾶς, τοὺς πιστεύοντας κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ κράτους τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ. Μεγίστην ὑπερβολὴν δυνάμεως λέγει, χορηγούσης εἰς ἡμᾶς τὴν νεκρῶν ζωοποίησιν. Μέγα γὰρ τὸ τοὺς ἐξ αἰῶνος ἀναστῆναι θνητοὺς, τῷ πλήθη ζῶντας δι' ὀλίγου παραστῆναι. ∆ιὸ τοῖς ἀπίστοις ἄπιστος ἡ ὑπερβολὴ, κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον· Ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῆς δυνάμεώς σου ψεύσονταί σε οἱ ἐχθροί σου. Ἣν ἐνήργησεν ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ, ἐγείρας αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις, ὑπεράνω πάσης ἀρχῆς, καὶ ἐξουσίας, καὶ δυνάμεως, καὶ κυριότητος, καὶ παντὸς ὀνόματος ὀνομαζομένου. Ἔδειξε, φησὶν, ἡμῖν ὁ Θεὸς ἐν Χριστῷ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν ὧν ἡμῖν ἐχαρίσατο. Συνήγειρεν γὰρ ἡμᾶς καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἐν Χριστῷ ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἦν τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἡμέτερον δι' ἑαυτοῦ δεκτικὸν τῆς δυνάμεως καὶ τῆς ἐνεργείας τῆς ζωοποιοῦ, ὅτι ἦν σῶμα θανάτου, τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐν αὐτῷ ἐγκατῳκισμένης διὰ τὴν παράβασιν, διὰ τοῦτο ἴδιον αὐτὸ ὁ Μονογενὴς ἐποιήσατο, ἵνα ἀναμάρτητον αὐτὸ φυλάξας, καὶ τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ τῆς δόξης αὐτὸ παρασκευάσῃ γενέσθαι δεκτικόν. Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ, συνήγειρεν καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανίοις. Οὐ μόνον ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι· καὶ πάντα ὑπέταξεν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. ∆ιηνεκὴς ἡ δόξα, ἀρξαμένη μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος, παρατείνουσα δὲ εἰς τὸν ἄπειρον αἰῶνα· ὅτι τοῦτο ἡ δύναμις τῆς ἀφθάρτου καὶ ἐνδόξου διαμονῆς ἡμῶν, τὸ τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς διαμένειν εἰς αἰῶνας. Καὶ αὐτὸν ἔδωκε κεφαλὴν ὑπὲρ πάντα τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ. Ὡς μηκέτι τὰς οὐρανίους δυνάμεις εἶναι κεφαλὴν ἐφ' ἡμῖν, καθὸ καὶ ὑπὸ ἐπιτρόπους καὶ οἰκονόμους ἡμῶν, κατὰ τὴν ἱερὰν τοῦ Ἀποστόλου φωνήν. Ἥτις ἐστὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ. Σῶμα αὐτοῦ, ἡ Ἐκκλησία κατὰ τὴν μετάληψιν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος. 95.829 Τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι πληρουμένου. Ἡ Ἐκκλησία ἐστὶν, ἡ δεκτικὴ, φησὶ, τοῦ διήκοντος, τῶν οὐρανίων μὲν πάλαι, νῦν δὲ καὶ ἐπιγείων.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. Βʹ. Καὶ ὑμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασι καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις, ἐν αἷς ποτε

περιεπατήσατε κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, κατὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος, τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς ἀπειθείας, ἐν οἷς καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἀνεστράφημέν ποτε ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν, ποιοῦντες τὰ θελήματα τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν διανοιῶν, καὶ ἦμεν τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς, ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί. Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς πλούσιος ὢν ἐν ἐλέει, διὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἀγάπην αὐτοῦ, ἣν ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς, καὶ ὄντας ἡμᾶς νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν, συνεζωοποίησεν ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ. Χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι. Ὑμᾶς, φησὶ, τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐξαιρέτους ὄντας τοῦ θανάτου διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν ᾗ ἐζῆτε ὑπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος τοῦ ἄρξαντος διὰ τῶν εἰσπορευομένων ὑμῖν πονηρῶν ἐννοιῶν, ἐλέου ἀξιώσας ὁ Θεὸς καὶ χάριτος ἑκουσίου, τὴν ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ νεκρότητα ὑμῶν μετέβαλεν εἰς ζωὴν κοινωνίᾳ τῇ πρὸς τὸν Χριστόν. Ὅπερ γάρ ἐστι τῷ Χριστῷ, τοῦτο εἰς ἡμᾶς χωρεῖ συναπτομένους αὐτῷ. Καὶ τοὺς ἔχοντας δὲ νόμον, τὰ ὅμοια τῶν ἐθνῶν πεπονθέναι, φησὶν, ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, ἵνα τὸ μέγεθος ἐνδείξηται τῆς δωρεᾶς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι τοὺς πάντας κρατουμένους ὑπὸ τῆς φθορᾶς διέσωσε. Καὶ συνήγειρε καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ἵνα ἐνδείξηται ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσι τοῖς ἐπερχομένοις τὸν ὑπερβάλλοντα πλοῦτον τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ, ἐν χρηστότητι ἐφ' ἡμᾶς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. Τῇ γὰρ χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι διὰ τῆς πίστεως, καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ἡμῶν. Σάρξ ἐσμεν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ μέλη, καὶ σῶμα, καὶ κεφαλὴν ἡμῶν αὐτὸν ἔδωκεν ὁ Πατήρ. Ἤδη ἐσμὲν ἐν οὐρανῷ, καθό ἐσμεν ἐν Χριστῷ, καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν ἕξομεν εἰς ὕστερον, ὅτε τὰ ἐν Χριστῷ ἀγαθὰ πρόεισιν εἰς τὸ ἐμφανὲς, ἀνεξήγητα ὄντα νυνὶ, καὶ ἀνεξαρίθμητα· διὸ