Homily 2 — Colossians 1, verses 9 to 14

“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not stop praying and making request for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding; to walk worthily of the Lord, pleasing him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” [a]

“For this reason.” For what reason? Because we heard of your faith and love; because we have good hopes, we are confident enough to ask for the blessings still to come as well. For just as at the games we cheer on most of all those who are close to winning, so Paul too urges on most of all those who have already achieved the greater part.

“Since the day we heard it,” he says, “we do not stop praying for you.” We do not pray for you for one day, or two, or three. In this he both shows his love and gives them a gentle hint that they had not yet arrived at the end. For that is what the words “that you may be filled” mean.

And notice, please, the good sense of this blessed man. Nowhere does he say that they lack everything, but that they fall short; everywhere the words “that you may be filled” show this. And again, “pleasing him in all things, in every good work,” and again, “strengthened with all power” (verse 11), and again, “for all endurance and patience.” The constant addition of “all” bears witness that they were doing well in part, though perhaps not in everything. And he says “that you may be filled,” not “that you may receive,” for they had received; but “that you may be filled” with what was still lacking. In this way the rebuke was given without offense, and the praise did not let them sink down and grow slack, as though it were already complete.

But what does “that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will” mean? That we should be brought to him through the Son, and no longer through angels. You have learned that you must be brought to him; but it still remains for you to learn this as well, and why he sent the Son. For if we were to have been saved by angels, he would not have sent him; he would not have given him up. “In all spiritual wisdom,” he says, “and understanding.” For since the philosophers were deceiving them, he says: I want you to be in spiritual wisdom, not in the wisdom of men. But if spiritual wisdom is needed to know the will of God, then to know his being, what it is, calls for constant prayer.

And Paul shows here that from that time he has been praying, and has not yet obtained his request, and yet has not given up; the words “since the day we heard it” show this. But it also carries a charge against them, if from that time, even with prayers to help them, they had not set themselves right. “And making request,” he says — with great earnestness, for this is what the expression “you knew” shows. But there is still something more you need to know. [d]

“To walk,” he says, “worthily of the Lord.” Here he is speaking of life and its works, as he does everywhere: with faith he always couples conduct. “Pleasing him in all things.” And how “in all things”? “Bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Since he has fully revealed himself to you, he says, and since you have received so great a knowledge, show then a way of life worthy of the faith; for the faith calls for lofty conduct, far greater than under the old covenant. For think how great a virtue is needed by the one who has known God and been counted worthy to be God’s servant — or rather, even his son.

“Strengthened with all power.” Here he is speaking of trials and persecutions. We pray, he says, that you may be filled with strength, so that you do not lose heart from sorrow, or despair. “According to the might of his glory.” That is, that you may take up again such eagerness as it is fitting for the power of his glory to give. “For all endurance and patience.” What he is saying is something like this. In short, he says, we pray that you may lead a life of virtue, worthy of your citizenship, and may stand firm, strengthened as those whom God strengthens may reasonably be. [e]

That is why he does not yet touch on doctrines, but dwells on their life, in which he had nothing to charge them with; and having praised them where praise was due, he then comes down to accusation. He does this everywhere. When he is about to write to people for whom he has some blame and some praise, he praises them first and then comes down to his charges. For first he wins the hearer over, and frees his accusation from all suspicion, and shows that for his own part he would have been glad to praise them from start to finish, but that the necessity of the case forces him to say what he does. So he does in the first letter to the Corinthians: after praising them highly as people who loved him, he comes down to accusing them, starting even with the case of the sexually immoral man.

In the letter to the Galatians, however, it is not so, but the reverse. Or rather, if one looks closely, even there the accusation follows on praise. Since he had no good deeds of theirs to speak of at that time, and the charge was an extremely serious one, and every one of them had been corrupted, and since they were able to bear it because they were strong, he begins with accusation, saying, “I am astonished” (Galatians 1, verse 6). So even this is praise. But afterward he praises them, not for what they were, but for what they had been, saying, “If it had been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me” (Galatians 4, verse 15).

“Bearing fruit,” he says: this refers to works. “Strengthened”: this refers to trials. “For all endurance and patience”: patience toward one another, endurance toward those outside. For patience is shown toward those we could pay back, but endurance toward those we cannot. That is why the word “enduring” is never used of God, but “patient” often, as this same blessed man says elsewhere in his writings: “Or do you despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and patience?” “Pleasing him in all things”: not at one time, and afterward not. [f]

“In all spiritual wisdom,” he says, “and understanding.” For otherwise it is not possible to know his will. They did think they had his will; but that wisdom was not spiritual. “To walk,” he says, “worthily of the Lord.” For this is the way of the best life. The one who has understood God’s love for humankind — and he does understand it if he has seen the Son handed over — will have greater eagerness. And besides, he says, we pray not for this alone, that you may know, but that you may show your knowledge in works; for the one who knows without doing is on the road to punishment.

“To walk,” he says: that is, always — not once, but continually. Just as walking is necessary for us, so is living rightly. And when he speaks of this he constantly uses the word “walk,” and with reason, showing that such is the life set before us. But the life of the world is not of this kind. And great, too, is the praise. “To walk,” he says, “worthily of the Lord,” and “in every good work,” so as to be always advancing and never standing still; and, with a metaphor, “bearing fruit and increasing in the knowledge of God,” so that you may be “strengthened,” according to the might of God, as far as it is possible for a human being to be.

“Through his power”: great is the comfort in this. He did not say “strength,” but “power,” which is greater: “through the power,” he says, “of his glory,” because his glory has power everywhere. In this way he comforts the one who is under reproach; and again, “to walk worthily of the Lord.” He says of the Son that he has power everywhere, both in heaven and on earth, because his glory reigns everywhere. He does not say simply “strengthened,” but strengthened as those might be expected to be who are in the service of so strong a Master.

“In the knowledge of God.” At the same time he touches in passing on the ways of knowing; for not to know God as one ought is to be in error. Or he means: so as to increase in the knowledge of God. For if the one who has not known the Son does not know the Father either, there is rightly a need for increased knowledge; without it, one’s way of life is of no use. “For all endurance and patience,” he says, “with joy, giving thanks” (verse 12) to God.

Then, as he is about to urge them on, he makes no mention of what will later be stored up for them. He did hint at this at the beginning of the letter, however, saying, “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (verse 5). But here he mentions the things that were already theirs, for these are the grounds of the others. He does the same in many places, for what has already happened wins belief and carries the hearer along more. “With joy,” he says, “giving thanks” to God. The connection is this: we do not stop praying for you, and giving thanks for the benefits already received. [g]

Do you see how he carries himself forward into speaking of the Son? For if “we give thanks with great joy,” it is a great thing that is being spoken of. It is possible to give thanks only out of fear; it is possible to give thanks even in sorrow. Job, for instance, gave thanks, but in anguish, and he said, “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away” (Job 1, verse 21). Let no one say that what had happened did not pain him or clothe his soul in dejection; and let that righteous man’s great praise not be taken from him. But when it is like this, it is not out of fear, nor only because he is Lord, but for the very nature of the things themselves that we give thanks.

“To him who has made us fit to have a share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” He has said a great thing. What has been given, he says, is of this kind: he has not only given, but has also made us strong enough to receive. By saying “who made us fit,” he showed that the thing was one of great weight.

For example, if some lowborn person were to become a king, he has it in his power to give a governorship to whomever he wants; and this is the whole extent of his power — to give the rank. He cannot also make the person fit for the office, and often the honor makes the man promoted to it even ridiculous. If, however, he has both given someone the rank and made him fit for the honor and equal to the work of governing, then the thing really is an honor. This, then, is what Paul is saying here too: that God has not only given us the honor, but has also made us strong enough to receive it.

For the honor here is twofold: the giving, and the making fit for the gift. He did not say simply “gave,” but “made us fit to have a share in the inheritance of the saints in light” — that is, who has appointed us a place with the saints. But he did not say simply “placed us”; he has given us to enjoy the very same things, for “the share” is what each one receives. It is possible to be in the same city and yet not enjoy the same things; but to have the same share and not enjoy the same things is impossible. It is possible to be in the same inheritance and yet not have the same share: all of us clergy, for instance, are in the inheritance, but we do not all have the same share. But here he does not say this; along with the inheritance he adds the share as well. [h]

But why does he call it an inheritance, or lot? To show that no one gains the kingdom by his own achievements. Just as a lot is rather a matter of good fortune, so truly it is here as well. For no one shows a life so good as to be counted worthy of the kingdom; the whole is his free gift. That is why he says, “When you have done everything, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants, for we have done what was our duty to do’” (Luke 17, verse 10).

“To have a share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” He means both the future light and the present light — that is, in knowledge. He seems to me to be speaking of both the present and the future at once. Then he shows what things we have been counted worthy of. For this is not the only marvel, that we are counted worthy of the kingdom; one must also add who we are who are counted worthy, for that is no small matter. He does this in the letter to the Romans, saying, “For scarcely for a righteous man will anyone die; though perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die” (Romans 5, verse 7).

Verse 13: “Who delivered us,” he says, “from the power of darkness.” [i]

The whole is his doing, the giving of both these things and those; nowhere is there any achievement of ours. “From the power of darkness,” he says: that is, of error, the devil’s rule. He did not say “darkness,” but “power,” for it had great power over us and held us fast. It is grievous indeed to be under the devil at all; but to be under him “with power” is far more grievous.

“And transferred us,” he says, “into the kingdom of the Son of his love.” So it was not only by delivering humanity from darkness that he showed his love toward us. It is a great thing indeed to have delivered us even from darkness; but to have brought us into a kingdom as well is a far greater one. See, then, how manifold the gift is: first, that he delivered us who lay in the pit; second, that he not only delivered us but also transferred us into a kingdom.

“Who delivered us.” He did not say “sent us out,” but “delivered,” showing our great misery and how we had been taken captive. Then, to show also the ease with which the power of God works, he says, “and transferred us,” just as one might move a soldier from one post to another. And he did not say “led us over,” nor yet “moved us across,” for then the whole would have been the doing of the one who moved, and nothing of the one who went over; but he said “transferred,” so that it is both ours and his.

“Into the kingdom of the Son of his love.” He did not say simply “the kingdom of heaven,” but gave grandeur to his words by saying “the kingdom of the Son,” for no praise can be greater than this, as he says elsewhere too: “If we endure, we will also reign with him” (Second Timothy 2, verse 12). He has counted us worthy of the same things as the Son — and not only that, but, what gives it greater force, with his beloved Son! Those who were enemies, those who were in darkness, he has all at once, as it were, transferred to where the Son is, to the same honor with him.

Nor was he content with this alone in showing the greatness of the gift. He was not content with saying “kingdom,” but added “of the Son”; nor even with this, but added “beloved” as well; nor even with this, but he added besides the dignity of his nature. For what does he say? “Who is the image of the invisible God.” But he did not go on to say this at once; first he inserted the benefit that the Son bestowed on us. So that when you hear that the whole is the Father’s doing, you would not suppose the Son to be left out, he ascribes the whole to the Son and the whole to the Father. For the Father transferred us, but the Son provided the cause. [j]

For what does he say? “Who delivered us from the power of darkness.” And it is the same thing when he says, “in whom we have the full redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” For if our sins had not been forgiven, we would not have been “transferred.” So here again there are the words “in whom.” And he did not say “redemption,” but “full redemption,” so that we will not fall any more, nor become subject to death.

Verse 15: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” [k]

Here we come upon a question raised by heresy. So it would be well to put it off for today and take it up tomorrow, bringing it to your ears when they are fresh.

But if anything more must be said: the work of the Son is the greater. How? Because it would have been impossible to give the kingdom to people while they remained in their sins; but this way it becomes an easier thing, so that he prepared the way for the gift. What do you say? He himself set you free from your sins; surely, then, he himself has also brought you near. Already Paul has laid, in advance, the foundation of his teaching.

But we must bring this discourse to a close, once we have first made one remark. What is it? Since we have come to enjoy so great a benefit, we ought always to be mindful of it, to turn God’s free gift over in our minds continually, and to reflect on what we have been delivered from and what we have obtained. In this way we will be thankful; in this way we will heighten our love toward him.

What are you saying, my friend? You are called to a kingdom, to the kingdom of the Son of God — and you are full of yawning and scratching and dozing? If you had to leap into ten thousand deaths every day, ought you not to endure it all? For the sake of a public office you do everything imaginable; then when you are going to share the kingdom of the only Son, will you not throw yourself down onto ten thousand swords? Would you not leap into fire? And this is not the only strange thing. Even when you are about to depart, you lament, and would gladly go on living among the things here, being a lover of the body. What notion is this? Do you really regard death as something terrifying? The cause of this is luxury and ease. The man who lived a hard and bitter life would even wish for wings, to be set free from here.

But as it is, we are like pampered nestlings that would gladly stay in the nest forever. Yet the longer they stay, the weaker they become. For the present life is a nest stuck together out of sticks and mud. Yes, even if you showed me the great mansions, even the royal palace itself glittering with all its gold and precious stones, I will think them no better than swallows’ nests; for when winter comes they will all fall of themselves. [l]

By winter I mean that Day — not that it will be winter for everyone. For God too calls it both night and day: night with regard to sinners, day with regard to the righteous. So I too now call it winter. If we have not been well reared in the summer, so as to be able to fly when winter comes, our mothers will not take us, but will leave us to die of hunger, or to perish when the nest falls. For as easily as a nest, or rather more easily, God will on that day remove all things, undoing everything and shaping it all anew. But those who are unfledged and cannot meet him in the air, who have been reared so heavily that they have no lightness of wing, will suffer what it is reasonable for such people to suffer.

Now the swallows’ brood, when they fall, quickly perish; but we will not perish — we will be punished forever. That season will be winter, or rather, harsher than winter. For there it is not wintry torrents of water that roll down, but rivers of fire; and the darkness there is not the kind that rises from clouds, but darkness that cannot be scattered, without a single ray of light, so that they cannot see either the sky or the air, and are more hemmed in than those who have been buried in the earth.

We often say these things, but there are some we cannot bring to believe them. Yet it is no wonder if we, men of small account, are treated this way when we speak of such things, since the same thing happened to the prophets too, when they spoke not of these matters only, but also of war and captivity (Jeremiah 21, verse 11, and 27, verse 12, and elsewhere). Zedekiah was rebuked by Jeremiah and was not ashamed. That is why the prophets said, “Woe to those who say, ‘Let God hurry and speed his work, so that we may see it; and let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so that we may know it’” (Isaiah 5, verses 18 and 19). [m]

Let us not be surprised at this. For those who lived in the days of the ark did not believe either; they believed, it is true, but only when believing gained them nothing. Nor did the people of Sodom expect their fate; they too believed, but only when they gained nothing by believing. And why do I speak of what is to come? Who would have expected the things now happening in various places — these earthquakes, these overthrows of cities? And yet these things were easier to believe than those: I mean the things that happened in the days of the ark.

How is that clear? Because the people of those days had no other example to look at, and they had not heard the Scriptures; but we have countless instances that have happened both in our own years and in years gone by. Then where did the unbelief of these people come from? From a soul gone soft. They drank and ate, and that is why they did not believe. For whatever a person wants, he thinks is true and expects to happen, and those who contradict him are a joke to him. [n]

But let it not be so with us. For in the time to come it will not be a flood, and the punishment will not last only until death; for those who do not believe that there is a judgment, death will be the beginning of punishment. Does someone ask, “Who has come back from there and told us so?” If you say this as a joke, even so it is not right. One ought not to joke about such things, and we would be joking not where joking belongs, but at our peril. But if this is what you really feel, and you hold that there is nothing after this life, how can you call yourself a Christian? I am not taking into account those outside. Why do you receive the washing? Why do you set foot inside the church? Is it that we promise you public office? All our hope is in the things to come. Why then do you come, if you do not believe the Scriptures?

If you do not believe Christ, I cannot call such a person a Christian — far from it! — but worse even than the Greeks. In what way? In this: that while you think Christ is God, you do not believe him as God. In that other ungodliness there is at least consistency, for the man who does not think Christ is God will of course not believe him either. But this ungodliness has not even consistency: to confess him to be God, and yet not think him worthy of belief in what he has said. These are the words of drunkenness, of luxury, of wild living: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (First Corinthians 15, verse 32). Not tomorrow — you are dead now, when you talk like this.

Tell me, are we then to be no different from pigs and donkeys? For if there is no judgment, no recompense, no court, why have we been honored with such a gift as reason, and had all things put under us? Why do we rule, and they are ruled? See how the devil presses on us from every side to persuade us to be ignorant of the gift of God. Like some kidnapper and ungrateful servant, he mixes the slaves up with their masters; he tries to drag the free down to the level of criminals. He seems indeed to be overthrowing the judgment, but what he is overthrowing is the very existence of God.

For this is always the devil’s way: he puts everything forward craftily and not straightforwardly, to catch us off our guard. If there is no judgment, God is not just (I am speaking in human terms). If God is not just, then there is no God at all. If there is no God, everything goes on at random; virtue is nothing, vice is nothing. But he says none of this openly. Do you see the drift of this satanic argument? Do you see how, instead of human beings, he wants to make us animals without reason — or rather, wild beasts; or rather, demons? So let us not be persuaded by him. There is a judgment, you wretched and miserable man! I know where you are coming from when you use such words. You have committed many sins, you have given offense, you have no confidence left, and you think the nature of things will even follow your arguments. [p]

“Meanwhile,” he says, “I will not torment my soul with the expectation of hell; and if there is a hell, I will persuade my soul that there is none. Meanwhile I will live here in luxury!” Why do you add sin to sin? If, when you have sinned, you believe that there is a hell, you will depart with only the penalty for your sins to pay. But if you add this further ungodliness, you will suffer the utmost punishment for your ungodliness too, and for this very thought of yours; and what was a cold and short-lived comfort to you will become the reason you are punished forever. You have sinned — so be it. Why do you encourage others to sin as well, by saying that there is no hell?

Why did you mislead the simpler people? Why make the people’s hands go slack? As far as it depends on you, everything is turned upside down: the good will not become better, but listless, and the wicked will not stop their wickedness. For if we corrupt others, do we get some allowance for our sins? Do you not see the devil, how he tried to bring Adam down? And was any allowance made for him? No; surely it will be the occasion of a greater punishment, so that he is punished not for his own sins only, but for those of others too. So let us not suppose that dragging others down into the same destruction with ourselves will make the judgment seat more lenient toward us. Surely this will make it more severe. Why do we throw ourselves into destruction? All of this comes from Satan. [r]

My friend, have you sinned? You have a Master who loves humankind. Entreat him, implore him, weep, groan; and put fear into others, and beg them not to fall into the same things. Suppose that in a house one of the servants who had offended their master says to his son, “My child, I have offended the master. Be careful to please him, so that you do not end up like me.” Tell me, will he not find some forgiveness? Will he not bend his master and soften him?

But suppose that instead, so to speak, he says things like this: that the master will not repay each one as he deserves; that everything is jumbled together without distinction, good and bad alike; that in this house there are no thanks for anything. What do you think the master will feel about him? Will he not suffer a more severe punishment for his own misdeeds? And justly so. In the first case his feeling will plead for him, weakly though it may be; in this case, nobody will. If nothing else, then, at least imitate the rich man in hell, who said, “Father Abraham, send to my relatives, so that they do not come into this place.” Since he could not go himself, he asked this so that they would not fall into the same condemnation. Let us have done with such satanic talk. [s]

“What then?” he says. “When the Greeks put questions to us, would you not have us try to cure them?” But under pretense of curing the Greek, you throw the Christian into confusion, and your aim is to establish your satanic teaching. When you talk these things over with your own soul alone, you do not persuade it, and so you want to bring in others as witnesses. But if one must reason with a Greek, the discussion should not begin here. It should begin with whether Christ is God and the Son of God, and whether those gods of theirs are demons. If these points are established, everything else follows; but before the beginning is made good, it is pointless to argue about the end. Before learning the first elements, it is superfluous and useless to come to the conclusion.

The Greek disbelieves the judgment, and he is in the same position as you, since he too has many who have treated these things in their philosophy. And although, when they spoke this way, they held that the soul was separated from the body, they still set up a judgment seat. The thing is so very clear that hardly anyone is ignorant of it: the poets and everyone else agree among themselves that there is both a court and a judgment. So the Greek, too, disbelieves his own authorities. And the Jew has no doubt about these things — nor, in a word, does anyone.

Why then do we deceive ourselves? Look, you say these things to me. What will you say to God, “who fashioned our hearts one by one” (Psalm 33, verse 15), who knows everything in the mind, who “is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4, verse 12)? Tell me truthfully: do you not condemn yourself? And how could wisdom so great — that one who sins should condemn himself — come about by chance? This is the work of mighty wisdom. You condemn yourself. And will he who gives you such thoughts let everything go on at random? [u]

So the following rule holds everywhere and strictly. Not one of those who live in virtue wholly disbelieves the teaching of the judgment, even if he is a Greek or a heretic. None of those who live in great wickedness, except a few, accepts the teaching of the resurrection. And this is what the Psalmist says: “Your judgments are taken away from before his face” (Psalm 10, verse 5). Why? Because “his ways are always unholy”; for he says, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

Do you see that to talk this way is the mark of groveling minds? It is from eating and drinking that these sayings come which overturn the resurrection. For the soul cannot bear — I say, it cannot bear — the court that the conscience holds. So it is with the soul as with a murderer, who first tells himself that he will not be caught, and then goes on to kill. Had he let his conscience be his judge, he would not have rushed so quickly into that reckless crime. And still he knows, and pretends not to know, so as not to be tortured by conscience and fear; for then, certainly, he would have been less bold for the reckless deed. In just the same way, surely, those who sin and wallow day after day in the same wickedness are unwilling to know it, even though their consciences tug at them. [v]

But let us pay no attention to such people. For there will be — there will surely be — a judgment and a resurrection, and God will not leave such great works without guidance. So I beg you, let us leave off wickedness and hold fast to virtue, so that we may receive the true teaching in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And yet which is easier to accept: the teaching of the resurrection, or the teaching of fate? The second is full of injustice, of absurdity, of cruelty, of inhumanity; the first is full of righteousness, awarding each as he deserves. And still people do not accept it. But the fault is laziness, for no one with understanding accepts the other. Even among the Greeks, those who accepted that teaching were the ones who in defining pleasure declared it to be the “end”; but those who loved virtue would not accept it, and threw it out as absurd. If this was so even among the Greeks, much more will it hold true of the teaching of the resurrection.

And notice, please, how the devil has established two contrary things. So that we would neglect virtue and pay honor to demons, he brought in this necessity, and by means of each he won belief for both. What reason, then, will anyone be able to give who stubbornly disbelieves a thing so admirable, and is persuaded by people who talk such empty nonsense? So do not prop yourself up with the comfort that you will meet with forgiveness. Instead, let us gather all our strength and rouse ourselves to virtue, and let us live truly for God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and honor, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.