THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, speaks and exhorts thus: "Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord" (Heb 12:14).
By holiness he means chastity, according to which each man must be content with his own wife and not fall with another. Whoever is not content cannot be saved, but will inevitably perish, even if he has thousands of virtues.
"Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord" (Heb 12:14). Do you see how the Apostle joins peace with holiness?
So that we may understand that he requires not only bodily purity, but also peace, he opportunely mentioned both. He wished to establish both in us.
We must restrain our thoughts, allowing no disturbance or turmoil of soul within ourselves. We must lead a quiet and undisturbed life. We must behave peaceably toward all others, being gentle, meek, and forbearing.
Thus every feature of virtue should be reflected upon our face.
"Pursue peace with all men and holiness" (Rom 12:18). Therefore I exhort you, let us purify our conscience and mind.
Freed from every unclean thought, may we draw upon ourselves the grace of the Spirit, overcome the snares of the devil, and be counted worthy of enjoying eternal and ineffable good things.
May we all be counted worthy of them by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
"Peace," says the Apostle, "pursue with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord" (Heb 12:14). Whoever is unworthy to see the Lord is also unworthy of communion in the Lord's Body.
Therefore Paul says, "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup" (1 Cor 11:28).
What he said above in the words, "Let us not forsake our assembling together" (Heb 10:25), he expresses here also. In temptations, nothing makes us so easy to conquer and easy to catch as division.
Here is the proof. Scatter a company of soldiers in battle, and the enemy will have no trouble capturing and binding them. They attack them when divided, and therefore weakened.
"Pursue," he says, "peace with all men, and holiness." Therefore, with those who do evil also. He says the same elsewhere: "If possible, as far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men" (Rom 12:18).
On your part, he says, have peace, violating piety in nothing. Endure courageously the evil you suffer from others, because patience is a great weapon in temptations.
So also Christ strengthened His disciples: "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves" (Mt 10:16).
What are You saying? We are "in the midst of wolves," and You command us to be "as sheep" and "as doves"? Yes, He says.
Nothing so shames those who do evil as when we courageously endure injuries and do not avenge ourselves in word or deed. This makes us wise, preparing a greater reward for us, and it benefits them.
Has someone grievously insulted you? Bless him, and see how many good things you will gain from this. You will stop the evil, prepare a reward for yourself, shame him, and suffer nothing harmful yourself.
"Pursue peace with all men, and holiness." What does "holiness" mean? Chastity and self-control in married life.
Whoever is unmarried, he says, let him remain pure or enter marriage. Whoever is married, let him not commit adultery, but be content with his own wife. This is holiness.
How so? Marriage is not holiness, but marriage preserves the holiness that comes from faith, by not allowing one to cling to a harlot. Marriage is "honorable," but it is not holy (Heb 13:4).
Marriage is pure, but it does not bestow holiness. It only does not allow the holiness that comes from faith to be defiled.
"Without which," he says, "no one will see the Lord." He says the same in the Epistle to the Corinthians: "Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the Kingdom of God" (1 Cor 6:9-10).
Indeed, how can one who has become one body with a harlot be the body of Christ?
"See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that there be no fornicator or profane person among you" (Heb 12:15-16).
Do you see how everywhere he commands each person to assist the common salvation? "Exhort one another every day," he says elsewhere, "as long as it is called 'today'" (Heb 3:13).
Do not leave everything to the teachers, he says. Do not place everything upon those who preside. You also can edify one another.
He wrote the same to the Thessalonians: "Encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." And again, "Comfort one another with these words" (1 Thess 5:11; 4:18).
We now counsel you in the same way. If you wish, you can do more for one another than we can. You associate with one another more often. You know one another's affairs better than we do.
You see one another's faults. You have more openness, love, and fellowship. This is not small for instruction, but gives great and beneficial advantages.
You can reprove and persuade one another better than we can. Besides, I am one, while you are many. All of you, as many as you are, can be teachers.
Therefore I exhort you, do not neglect such a gift. Each of you has either a wife, a friend, a servant, or a neighbor. Reprove him. Persuade him.
Is it not unreasonable to arrange gatherings and associations for meals, to have a set day for meeting one another, and to supply by common means what one person lacks, when there is need to arrange a funeral, a dinner, or some other help for a neighbor?
Yet for the study of virtue, you do not do this. Therefore I exhort you, let no one neglect it. He will receive a great reward from God for this.
Know that the man entrusted with five talents is a teacher, and the man entrusted with one is a disciple. If the disciple says, "I am a disciple; I have no responsibility," he hides this common gift of speech received from God.
If he does not increase it at all, if he does not exhort, advise, reprove, or admonish when he can, but buries it in the earth, then his heart is earth and ashes.
If he hides it through sloth or impiety, the words, "I have only one talent," will not serve as his defense. Did you have one talent? You ought to have brought even one more and doubled the talent.
If you had brought one more, you would not have been guilty. To the one who brought two talents in addition, the Lord did not say, "Why did you not bring five?"
Instead, He counted him worthy of the same reward as the one who brought five in addition. Why? Because he did what he could.
He did not give himself over to sloth because he had received less than the one who received five talents. He did not use the smallness of the gift as an occasion for carelessness.
So you too should not have looked at the one with two talents. Or rather, you should have taken him as an example.
As he, having two talents, imitated the one who had five, so you should have imitated the one who had two.
If punishment awaits the man who possesses wealth and does not give to the poor, does not the greatest punishment await one who can exhort in any way and does not do so?
There the body is nourished, but here the soul. There you save from temporal death, but here from eternal death.
But you say, I do not have the gift of speech. There is no need for a special gift of speech or for eloquence.
When you see a friend committing adultery, say to him, "You are doing an evil thing. Are you not ashamed? Do you have no conscience? This is a vice."
But you say, does he not know that this is a vice? Of course he knows, but he is carried away by desire. Sick people know that drinking cold water is harmful, yet they still need warning.
Whoever is possessed by passion cannot quickly heal himself. Therefore you, who are healthy, must help his healing.
If he is not persuaded by your words, then watch when he goes and restrain him. Perhaps he will be ashamed.
But you say, what is the benefit if he does this for my sake, and if he is restrained by me? Do not reason too much. First restrain him from the evil deed by whatever means.
Let him become accustomed not to rush into that abyss. Whether he is restrained through you or through something else, there will be benefit from it.
When you accustom him not to go there, then afterward, once he has gradually calmed down, you can teach him that this must not be done for God's sake, not for man's.
Do not try to correct everything at once. This is impossible. Correct gradually and little by little.
If you see him going to revelry and drunken feasts, act in the same way there also. At the same time, ask him to help and admonish you if he notices any fault in you.
Then he will turn the reproof upon himself, seeing that you too need reproof. He will see that you help him not as one correct in everything, nor as a teacher, but as a friend and brother.
Say to him, "I was useful to you by reminding you of what was beneficial. If you notice any fault in me, restrain and correct me. If you see me angry or giving myself to covetousness, stop me and bridle me by your exhortation."
This is friendship. This is how "a brother helped by a brother is like a strong and high city" (Prov 18:19).
Friendship does not consist in eating and drinking together. Such friendship exists even among robbers and murderers. If we are friends and truly care for one another, then we must help one another precisely in this.
This leads us to beneficial friendship. This can save us from Gehenna.
Therefore the one reproved must not be grieved, for we are human and have faults. The one who reproves must not do so with mockery, contempt, or publicity, but privately and with meekness.
The one who reproves needs great meekness in order to dispose the one reproved to endure the painful treatment.
Do you not see, when physicians cauterize or cut, with what gentleness they apply the treatment? Those who reprove must act this way even more.
Reproof provokes irritation more powerfully than fire and iron. Physicians make every effort to make the cutting calmer and as easy as possible.
For this reason, after beginning it and doing a little, they pause to give the patient rest. Reproofs must be given in the same way, so that those reproved do not turn away from us.
Even if we must hear insults or even receive blows, we must not stop. Those undergoing painful treatment cry out a great deal against those who treat them.
Yet physicians pay attention to nothing except the health of the sufferers. So here too, everything must be done so that the reproof may bring benefit. We must endure everything, keeping in view the reward set before us.
"Bear one another's burdens," the Apostle says, "and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal 6:2).
Thus, by reproving and by enduring reproof from one another, we can fulfill Christ's divine economy.
In this way you will also lighten our labor, helping us in everything, giving a helping hand, and becoming participants and fellow workers in both one another's salvation and each one's own salvation.
Let us therefore endure, both bearing one another's burdens and reproving one another, that we may be counted worthy of the good things promised us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
There are many distinguishing marks of Christianity, but greater and better than all are love for one another and peace.
Therefore Christ says, "My peace I give to you," and again, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (Jn 14:27; 13:35).