Chapter
III.—The Duty of Confessing Christ.
Since, then, He has displayed so great mercy towards us,
and especially in this respect, that we who are living should not offer
sacrifices to gods that are dead, or pay them worship,
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but should attain through Him to
the knowledge of the true
Father,
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whereby shall we
show that we do indeed know Him,
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but by not
denying Him through whom this knowledge has been attained? For He
himself declares, “Whosoever shall confess me before men, him
will I confess before my Father.”
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This, then, is our reward if we shall
confess Him by whom we have been saved. But in what way shall we
confess Him? By doing what He says, and not transgressing His
commandments, and by honouring Him not with our lips only, but with all
our heart and all our mind.
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For He says
in Isaiah, “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their
heart is far from me.”
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I. omits.
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I.
τῆς
ἀληθείας
(of
truth).
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Literally, “what
is the knowledge which is towards Him.”
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Matt. x. 32
.
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Comp.
Matt. xxii. 37
.
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Isa. xxix. 13
.