Homily 25 — Romans 14, verses 1 to 13

“Receive the one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful points. For one person believes he may eat anything; another, who is weak, eats vegetables.” [a]

I know that most people find what is said here difficult. So I must first set out the subject of the whole passage, and what Paul wants to correct in writing it. What does he want to correct, then? Many of the Jews who had believed held on to the law out of conscience. Even after they believed, they still kept the rules about foods, not yet having the courage to leave the service of the law entirely. Then, so that no one would notice them if they kept away from pork alone, they went on to abstain from all meat and ate only vegetables, so that what they were doing would look more like a fast than like keeping the law.

Others again were further along. They kept none of these things, and they became a distress and an offense to those who did keep them, reproaching them, accusing them, and driving them to dejection. So the blessed Paul was afraid. He feared that, wanting to be right about a trifle, they would overthrow the whole; that in trying to bring the others to indifference about what they ate, they would set them well on the road to deserting the faith; and that in their zeal to set everything right at once, before the proper time had come, they would do harm on the points that really matter. By this constant rebuking they would set the weaker ones adrift from their confession of Christ, and so they would be left set right in neither respect. Notice, then, what great judgment he uses, and how he looks after both interests with his usual wisdom.

He does not venture to say to those who rebuke, “You are doing wrong,” so that he will not seem to be confirming the others in their observances. Nor again does he say, “You are doing right,” so that he will not make them fiercer accusers still. Instead he shapes his rebuke to fit each of them. In appearance he is rebuking the stronger, but everything he has to say against the other side he pours out in what he says to these. For the kind of correction that grates least is this: a person speaks to one man while he is really striking a blow at another. That does not let the one being rebuked fly into a rage, and it slips in the medicine of correction without his noticing.

See now with what judgment he does this, and how well he times it. After saying, “Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its cravings,” he then goes on to discuss these points, so that he would not seem to be speaking in defense of those who did the rebuking and were for eating anything. For the weaker party always calls for more forethought. That is why he aims his blow at the strong, and says at once, “The one who is weak in the faith.”

You see the first blow he has given him, straight away. By calling him “weak,” he shows that he is not in health. Then he adds “receive,” and points out again that the man needs a great deal of care. And that is a sign of extreme frailty. [c]

“Not to disputes over doubtful points.” See, he has laid on a third lash. Here he makes it appear that the man’s error is of such a kind that even those who do not go wrong in the same way, who nevertheless take him into their affection and are earnestly set on curing him, are left in doubt. You see how in appearance he is talking with these, but is rebuking the others quietly and without giving offense.

Then, by placing them side by side, he praises the one and accuses the other. For he goes on to say, “One person believes he may eat anything,” commending him for his faith. “Another, who is weak, eats vegetables,” running this one down again for his weakness. Then, since the blow he had given was a deadly one, he comforts him again with these words:

Verse 3: “Let not the one who eats despise the one who does not eat.”

He does not say, “Leave him alone,” nor, “Do not blame him,” nor yet, “Do not set him right.” He says, do not reproach him, do not “despise” him, to show that they were doing something perfectly ridiculous. But of the other he speaks in different words: “Let not the one who does not eat judge the one who eats.” For just as the more advanced made light of the others as men of little faith, healed in appearance only, counterfeits, and still keeping to Jewish ways, so the others in turn judged these as lawbreakers, or as given to gluttony. And it is likely that many of these were from the Gentiles too. That is why he goes on, “for God has received him.” [f]

But in the other’s case he does not say this. And yet being despised was properly the eater’s lot, as a glutton, and being judged was the lot of the one who did not eat, as a man of little faith. But Paul has made them change places, to show that the eater not only does not deserve to be despised, but is even in a position to despise. What he means is: “Do I condemn him, then? Far from it!” That is why he goes on, “for God has received him.” Why then do you talk to him about the law, as if to a lawbreaker? “For God has received him”: that is, God has shown him a grace beyond words and has freed him from every charge against him. Then he turns to the strong again.

Verse 4: “Who are you to judge another man’s servant?”

From this it appears that they too were judging, and not only despising. “To his own master he stands or falls.” See, here is another stroke. The indignation seems to be aimed at the strong man, and Paul goes after him. When he says, “Yes, he will be held up,” he shows that the man is still wavering, and needs so much care that God must be called in as physician for it: “for God,” he says, “is able to make him stand.” And that is what we say about things we have quite given up on.

Then, so that the man will not despair, he gives him the name of a servant, when he says, “Who are you to judge another man’s servant?” And here again he strikes at him quietly. What he means is this: it is not because he does things that deserve to spare him from being judged that I tell you not to judge him, but because he is another’s servant — that is, not yours, but God’s. Then, to comfort him again, he does not say “falls,” but what? “Stands or falls.” But whether it is the one or the other, either way it is the Master’s concern, since the loss falls on him if the man falls, just as the gain does if he stands. And here again, if we do not keep in view Paul’s aim — that he did not want them rebuked before the proper time — the saying looks quite unworthy of the care Christians ought to have for one another.

But, as I am always saying, we must examine the intent with which a thing is said, the subject it is said about, and what the speaker wants to accomplish by saying it. And he makes them respectful by no small motive when he says this. What he means is: if God, who bears the loss, does nothing so far, how can you be anything but untimely and harsh beyond all measure when you seize the man by the throat and harass him? [g]

Verse 5: “One person regards one day above another; another regards every day alike.”

Here he seems to me to be giving a quiet hint about fasting. It is not unlikely that some who fasted were always judging those who did not; or, among the observances, it is likely that there were some who abstained on fixed days and did not abstain on others. That is why he also says, “Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind.” In this way he freed those who kept the observances from fear, by saying that the thing made no difference either way; and he also took away the quarrelsomeness of those who attacked them, by showing that it was no pressing matter to be always making trouble over these things.

Yet it was no pressing matter, not by its own nature, but because of the timing, and because they were new in the faith. For when he writes to the Colossians, he forbids it with great earnestness, saying, “See to it that no one robs you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human traditions, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2, verse 8). And again, “Let no one judge you in food or in drink” (Colossians 2, verse 16), and, “Let no one cheat you of your reward” (Colossians 2, verse 18). [i]

And when he writes to the Galatians, he demands of them with great strictness a Christian spirit and full maturity in this matter. But here he does not use this vehemence, because the faith had only lately been planted in them. So let us not apply the words “Let each one be convinced in his own mind” to every subject. For when he is speaking of doctrines, hear what he says: “If anyone preaches to you any good news other than what you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1, verse 9), even if it is “an angel.” And again: “I fear that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, so your minds may be corrupted” (Second Corinthians 11, verse 3). And writing to the Philippians, he says, “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the mutilation” (Philippians 3, verse 2).

But with the Romans, since it was not yet the right time to set things of this kind right, “Let each one,” he says, “be fully convinced in his own mind.” For he had been speaking of fasting. It was to take away the others’ empty glory, then, and to free these from fear, that he said what follows:

Verse 6: “The one who observes the day observes it to the Lord; and the one who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it.” And: “The one who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and the one who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.” [j]

He is still on the same subject. What he means is roughly this: the matter does not touch the foundations. What is required is that this person and that one are both acting for God’s sake, that both end in thanksgiving. And in fact both the one and the other give thanks to God. If, then, both give thanks to God, the difference is not a great one.

But let me point out how here too he strikes, without their noticing, at those who kept to Jewish ways. If what is required is this, the “giving of thanks,” it is plain enough that it is the one who eats who “gives thanks,” and not the one who does not eat. For how could he, while he still holds on to the law? So, just as he told the Galatians, “As many of you as are counted righteous by the law have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5, verse 4), so here he only hints at it and does not unfold it so fully, for it was not yet time to do that. For the present he bears with it; but in what follows he opens the matter a little further.

Verses 7 and 8: “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For whether we live, we live to the Lord; and whether we die, we die to the Lord.”

In saying this, too, he makes the same point clearer. For how can the one who lives to the law be living to Christ? But that is not the only thing he accomplishes by this. He also holds back the man who was in such a hurry to have them set right, and persuades him to be patient, by showing that it is impossible for God to despise them, and that in due time he will set them right.

What, then, is the force of “none of us lives to himself”? It means: we are not free. We have a Master, who wants us to live and does not want us to die, and to whom both of these matter more than they do to us. By what is said here he shows that God has a greater concern for us than we have for ourselves, and counts our life as his wealth and our death as his loss more than we do. For if we die, we do not die to ourselves alone, but to our Master as well. But by death here he means dying away from the faith.

This alone would be enough to convince us that he cares for us: that it is to him we live and to him we die. Still Paul is not satisfied with saying this, but goes further. After saying, “Whether we live, then, or die, we are the Lord’s,” and passing from that death to the death of the body, so as not to give his language an air of harshness, he gives another very great sign of God’s care for us. And what kind of sign is it?

Verse 9: “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” [k]

So let us convince you of this at least: that he takes thought for our salvation. If he had not had this great care for us, what need would there have been for the plan of salvation? He who showed such anxiety that we should become his that he took the form of a servant and died — will he despise us after we have become his? That cannot be; it certainly cannot! Nor would he choose to waste so much labor. “For to this end,” he says, “he also died.” It is as if someone were to say, “That man will not have the heart to despise his servant; he has his own purse to think of” (compare Exodus 21, verse 21).

For in fact we are not as much in love with money as he is with our salvation. That is why it was not money but his own blood that he put down as bail for us. And for this reason he would not have the heart to give up those for whom he had laid down so great a price.

See, too, how he shows that his power is beyond words. For he says, “To this end he both died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” And above he said, “For whether we live or die, we are his.” See how far his rule as Master reaches! See what unconquerable might! See what exact care he takes of us! Do not tell me only of the living, Paul means; he takes care even of the departed. And if he does so for the departed, it is quite plain that he does so for the living too. He has left nothing undone to secure this rule as Master, making out more claims for himself than men do, and above all in order to take care of us.

A man puts down money, and for that reason clings tightly to his own slave. But he himself paid down his death. The salvation of someone bought at so great a price, over whom he gained his rule with so much anxiety and trouble, he is not likely to count as worth nothing. But Paul says this to make the one who kept to Jewish ways ashamed, and to persuade him to call to mind the greatness of the benefit: how, when he was dead, he had come to life, and had gained nothing from the law; and how it would be the height of callousness to leave the one who had shown him so much care and run back to the law.

Having attacked him enough, then, he eases off again and says: [m]

Verse 10: “But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother?”

So he seems to be putting them on a level, but from what he has said he shows that the difference between them is great. First, by the name “brother” he does away with quarrelsomeness; and then also by calling that awesome day to their minds. For after saying, “Why do you despise your brother?” he goes on, “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”

In saying this he seems once again to be rebuking the more advanced, but he is throwing the mind of the one who kept to Jewish ways into confusion. He does it not only by calling on him to revere the benefit done to him, but also by making him afraid of the punishment to come. “For we will all,” he says, “stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”

Verses 11 and 12: “For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess to God.’ So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.”

See how he again throws the man’s mind into confusion while he seems to be rebuking the other. He hints at something like this, as if he had said: “How does it concern you? Are you going to be punished for him?” He does not say this outright, but hints at it, putting it in a milder form and saying, “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ,” and, “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” And he brings in the prophet as a witness that all are subject to him, a subjection that reaches even those in the Old Testament, and absolutely everyone. For he does not simply say that everyone will worship, but that everyone “will confess”: that is, will give an account of what he has done. So be anxious, seeing the Master of all seated on his judgment seat, and do not make splits and divisions in the church by breaking away from grace and running over to the law.

For the law too is his. And why do I speak only of the law? Even those under the law and those before the law are his. And it is not the law that will demand an account from you, but Christ — from you and from the whole human race.

See how he has freed us from fear of the law. Then, so that he would not seem to be saying this to frighten them for the moment, but to have come to it along the course he had set himself, he keeps to the same subject again and says: [n]

Verse 13: “Let us not, then, judge one another any longer; but judge this rather: that no one put a stumbling block or a cause of falling in his brother’s way.”

This applies to the one no less than to the other, and so it fits both: the advanced man, who took offense at the keeping of food rules, and the one not yet advanced, who stumbled at the harsh rebuke given him. But consider, I beg you, how great a punishment we will suffer if we cause anyone to stumble at all. Here was a case where the thing was against the law; yet because they were rebuking out of season, Paul forbade them to do it, so that a brother would not be made to stumble and fall. When we cause someone to stumble without even having anything to set right, what treatment will we deserve? If not saving others is a crime — and that it is, the man who buried the talent proves — what will come of causing them to stumble as well?

But you may say: “What if he makes himself stumble, by being weak?” Why, this is exactly why you ought to be patient. If he were strong, he would not need so much attention. But as it is, since he is one of the feebler sort, for that very reason he needs considerable care. So let us make this allowance for him, and carry his burdens in every respect, since we will have to give an account not only of our own sins but also of those in which we cause others to stumble. If that account were hard to get through even by itself, how will we be saved when these are added to it?

And let us not suppose that if we can find accomplices in our sins, that will be an excuse; it will only add to our punishment. For the serpent too was punished more than the woman, as the woman likewise was punished more than the man (First Timothy 2, verse 14). And Jezebel was punished more severely than Ahab, who had seized the vineyard, for it was she who devised the whole thing and made the king stumble (First Kings 21, verses 23, 25 and 29). So you, when you are the cause of destruction to others, will suffer more severely than those you have led astray. For sinning is not as ruinous as leading others into the same sin.

That is why he speaks of those who “not only do the same things, but take pleasure in those who do them” (Romans 1, verse 32). So when we see anyone sinning, let us, far from pushing them on, even pull them back from the pit of wickedness, so that we will not have to be punished for the ruin of others besides our own. And let us keep continually in mind that awesome judgment seat, the river of fire, the chains that are never loosed, the darkness without light, the gnashing of teeth, and the venomous worm. [p]

“Ah, but God is merciful!” Are these things, then, mere words? Was that rich man not punished for despising Lazarus? Are the foolish virgins not shut out of the bridal chamber? Do those who did not feed him not go away into “the fire prepared for the devil” (Matthew 25, verse 41)? Will the one in soiled clothes not be “bound hand and foot” (Matthew 22, verse 13) and go to ruin?

Will the one who demanded that the hundred denarii be paid not be handed over to the torturers? Is what is said of adulterers not true, that “their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched” (Mark 9, verse 43)? Are these only threats, then? The answer comes: “Yes.” And from what source, may I ask, do you dare to make such a claim — and that when you are passing judgment on your own opinion? Why, I will be able to prove the opposite, both from what he said and from what he did (see John 5, verse 22).

If you will not believe in the punishments that are to come, then at least believe in those that have happened already. What has already happened, and has come out into reality, is surely not threats and words. Who was it, then, that flooded the whole world and brought about that terrible shipwreck, the utter destruction of our whole race? Who was it that afterward hurled those thunderbolts and lightnings on the land of Sodom? Who drowned all Egypt in the sea? Who destroyed the six hundred thousand men in the wilderness? Who burned up the company of Abiram? Who ordered the earth to open its mouth and swallow up the band of Korah and Dathan? Who carried off the seventy thousand at one stroke in David’s time? [s]

Shall I also mention those who were punished one by one? Cain, who was handed over to a punishment that never let up? The son of Carmi, who was stoned with his whole family? Or the man who suffered the same thing for gathering sticks on the Sabbath? The forty children who were destroyed by those wild beasts, and won no pardon even on account of their age?

And if you want to see these same things even after the coming of grace, just consider how much the Jews suffered: how the women ate their children, some roasting them and some consuming them in other ways; how, after they were handed over to a famine nothing could relieve and to wars many and severe, they cast every earlier disaster into the shade by the sheer size of their own calamities. That it was Christ who did these things to them, hear him declare, both in parables and clearly and in so many words. In parables, as when he says, “But those who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and kill them” (Luke 19, verse 27), and in the parable of the vineyard and the parable of the wedding. Clearly and in so many words, as when he threatens that they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive among the nations, and that there will be on the earth “distress of nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, people’s hearts failing them for fear” (Luke 21, verses 24, 25 and 26), and, “There will be distress such as there never was, no, nor ever will be” (Matthew 24, verse 21). And what a punishment Ananias and Sapphira suffered for stealing a little money, you all know.

Do you not see the disasters that happen every day as well? Or have these not happened either? Do you not see people wasting away with hunger even now, people who suffer from elephantiasis or are maimed in body, people who live in constant poverty, people who suffer countless evils that cannot be undone? Is it reasonable, then, for some to be punished and some not? If God is not unjust — and unjust he is not — you too will certainly be punished if you sin. But if he does not punish because he is merciful, then these people ought not to have been punished either. As it is, it is because of these words of yours that God punishes many even here, so that when you do not believe the words of his threats, you may at least believe the deeds of his vengeance. And since the things of long ago do not frighten you very much, he corrects those who grow careless in every generation by things that happen in every generation.

“And why is it, then, that he does not punish everyone here?” So that he may give the others time for repentance. “Then why does he not take vengeance on everyone in the next world?” So that many will not stop believing in his providence. How many robbers have been caught, and how many have left this life unpunished? Where, then, is the mercy of God? It is my turn now to ask you that. If no one at all had vengeance taken on him, you might have taken refuge in this. But now that some are punished and some are not, though the ones who go free are worse sinners, how can it be reasonable that the same sins do not bring the same punishments? How can those who are punished seem anything but wronged? What reason is there, then, why all are not punished here? Hear his own defense on these matters. When some had died because a tower fell on them, he said to those who raised the question, “Do you suppose that they were sinners above all others? I tell you, no; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13, verses 4 and 5). In this way he urges us not to feel confident when others are punished and we are not, though we ourselves have committed many sins. For unless we change our ways, we will certainly suffer.

“And how is it that we are to be punished without end for sinning a short time here?” And how is it, I ask, that in this world those who have committed a single murder in one brief moment are condemned to punishment in the mines that never ends? “But it is not God who does that.” Then how did he come to keep the paralyzed man in such great suffering for thirty-eight years? That it was for his sins that he punished him, hear what he says: “See, you have been made well; sin no more” (John 5, verse 14). “But that man found release.” It is not so with the other life. That there will never be any release there, hear from his own mouth: “Their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched” (Mark 9, verse 44), and, “These will go into everlasting life, but these into everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25, verse 46).

Now if the life is eternal, the punishment is eternal. [ad]

Do you not see how severely he threatened the Jews? Well, have the things he threatened come to pass, or was what they were told mere talk? “Not one stone will be left upon another” (Luke 21, verse 6). Has one been left? And what about when he says, “There will be distress such as has not been” (Matthew 24, verse 21)? Has it not come? Read the history of Josephus, and you will hardly be able to draw breath just from hearing what they suffered for what they had done.

I say this not to hurt you, but to keep you safe, and so that I do not, by humoring you too much, only open the way for you to suffer heavier punishments. Tell me, why do you not think it right that you should be punished for sinning? Has he not told you everything beforehand? Has he not threatened you? Has he not come to your aid? Has he not done countless things for the sake of your salvation? Did he not give you the washing of new birth, and forgive all your former sins? After this forgiveness and the washing, has he not also given you the help of repentance, if you sin? Has he not made the road to the forgiveness of sins easy for you, even after all this? Hear, then, what he has commanded. “If you forgive your neighbor, I will also forgive you” (Matthew 6, verse 14), he says. What hardship is there in this? “Defend the cause of the fatherless and see that the widow gets justice, and come, let us talk together,” he says, “and if your sins are like purple, I will make them white as snow” (Isaiah 1, verses 17 and 18).

What labor is there in this? “Tell your sins, so that you may be counted righteous” (Isaiah 43, verse 26, as the Greek Old Testament reads it). What hardship is there in this? “Redeem your sins with alms” (Daniel 4, verse 24). What toil is there in this? The tax collector said, “Be merciful to me, a sinner,” and “went down to his home counted righteous” (Luke 18, verses 13 and 14). What labor is it to imitate the tax collector? [ag]

And will you not be persuaded even after this that there is punishment and vengeance? At that rate you will deny that even the devil is punished. For “Depart,” he says, “into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25, verse 41). Now if there is no hell, then the devil is not punished either. But if he is punished, it is plain that we will be too, for we also have disobeyed, even if not in the same way. And how is it that you are not afraid to say such reckless things? For when you say that God is merciful and does not punish, then if he should punish, by your reckoning he will turn out to be merciful no longer. Do you see what kind of talk the devil leads you into? And what then? Are the monks who have taken to the mountains, and who show such self-denial in so many forms, to go away without their crown?

For if the wicked are not to be punished, and no one receives any recompense, someone else will perhaps say that the good are not crowned either. “No; this is what is fitting for God: that there should be a kingdom only, and no hell.” Well, then, will the sexually immoral man, and the adulterer, and the man who has done countless evils enjoy the same benefits as the man who has shown self-control and holiness? Is Paul to stand beside Nero — or rather, the devil beside Paul? For if there is no hell, and yet there is to be a resurrection of all, then the wicked will attain the same good things! And who would say that? Who, even among people completely out of their minds? Or rather, which of the demons would even say it? For even they confess that there is a hell. [ah]

That is why they cried out and said, “Have you come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8, verse 29). How is it, then, that you are not afraid and do not tremble, when even the demons confess what you yourself deny? Or how is it that you do not see who is the teacher of these evil doctrines? The one who deceived the first man, and under the pretext of greater hopes threw them out even of the blessings they already had — he is the one who now suggests that people say and imagine these things. And that is why he persuades some to suspect that there is no hell: so that he may thrust them into hell. God, on the other hand, threatens hell and has made hell ready so that, by coming to know of it, you may live in such a way as not to fall into hell. And yet, if the devil persuades you of these things when there is a hell, how did the demons come to confess it, if it did not exist? For their aim and desire is that we should not suspect anything of the kind, so that through having no fear we may grow more careless and so fall with them into that fire.

“How, then, did they come to confess it?” Because they could not withstand the compulsion laid on them. Taking all these things into account, then, let those who talk this way stop deceiving both themselves and others. For even for these words of theirs they will be punished: for belittling those fearful things, and for weakening the resolve of many who mean to be in earnest. They do not do even as much as those barbarians did. For they knew nothing at all, yet when they heard that the city was to be destroyed, they were so far from disbelieving that they groaned, and put on sackcloth, and were thrown into dismay, and did not stop using every means until they had turned the wrath aside (Jonah 3, verse 5). But you, who have had so much experience of events and so much teaching, make light of what you are told? Then the opposite will be your fate. For as they, through fearing the words, did not have to undergo the vengeance in fact, so you, who despise the threat in words, will have to undergo the punishment in actual deed. [ai]

And if what you are told seems a fable to you now, it will not seem so on that day, when the things themselves convince you. Have you never noticed what he did even in this world? How, when he came upon two thieves, he did not count them worthy of the same lot, but led one into the kingdom and sent the other away to hell? And why do I speak of a robber and a murderer? Even the apostle he did not spare, once he had become a traitor. He saw him rushing to the noose, and hanging, and bursting open in the middle — for he did “burst open in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out” (Acts 1, verse 18) — and though he foresaw all these things, he let him suffer them all the same, giving you from the present world a proof of everything in the other world too. [aj]

So do not cheat yourselves by letting the devil persuade you. These schemes are his. If judges, and masters, and teachers, and even savages respect the good and punish the evil, what reason is there for the opposite to be the case with God, so that the good man and the one who is not good are counted worthy of the same lot? And when will such people ever stop their wickedness? Those who now expect punishment, and live among so many terrors — the terror of the judges and of the laws — do not turn away from wrongdoing even so. But when they leave this life they are to lay aside even this fear, and not only escape being thrown into hell, but even receive a kingdom.

When, then, will they stop doing wrong? Tell me, is this mercy: to add to wickedness, to set up rewards for wrongdoing, to count the self-controlled and the unrestrained, the faithful and the ungodly, Paul and the devil, as deserving the same? But how long am I going to waste words on this? I urge you, then, to free yourselves from this madness. Become your own masters, and persuade your souls to fear and to tremble, so that they may both be saved from the hell to come and, after passing this life with self-control, attain the good things to come, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. [ak]