68 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY IV. touching this gift ofgrace. What then ? saith a man, "Hath He Himself hindered our being justified by works ? " By no means. But no one, he saith, is justified by works, in order that the grace and loving-kindness of God may be shown. He did not reject us as having works, but as abandoned of works He hath saved us by grace ; so that no man henceforth may have whereof to boast. And then, lest when thou hearest that the whole work is accomplished not of works but by faith, thou shouldest be come idle, 1 observe how he continues, Ver. 10. " For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them." Observe the words he uses. He here alludes to the regeneration, which is in reality asecond creation. We have been brought from non-ex istence into being. As to what wewere before, that is, the old man, we are dead. What we are now become, before, we were not. Truly then is this work a creation, yea, and more noble than the first ; for from that one, we have our being ; but from this last, we have, over and above, our well being. "For good works, which God aforeprepared that we should walk in them."2 Not merely that we should begin, but that we should walk in them, forwe need a virtue which shall last throughout, and be extended on to our dying day. If we had to travel a road lead1 ing to a royal city, and then when we had passed over the greater part of it, were to flag and sit down near the very close, it were of no use to us. This is the hope of our calling ; for " for good works " he says. Otherwise it would profit us nothing. MORAL. Thus here he rejoices not that we should work one work, but all ; for, as we have five senses, and ought to make use of all in their proper season, so ought we also the several vir tues. Now were a man to be temperate and yet unmerciful, or were he to be merciful and yet grasping, or were he to abstain indeed from other people s goods, and yet not bestow his own, it would be all in vain. For a single vir tue alone is not enough to present us with bold ness before the judgment-seat of Christ ; no, we require it to be great, and various, and uni versal, and entire. Hear what Christ saith to the disciples, " Go, ye and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to observe all 1 [This is not the object of Paul in the statement of v. 10, but as Meyer says : " Ver. 10 is the reason assigned for the immediately preceding OVK tf vpiov . . . icaux>7cn) T<u - For if we are God s handiwork our salvation cannot be of our own acquiring, and if we are created in Christ unto good works how could the merit of our works be the cause of our salvation or the subject of our boast ing?" G. A.I 2 [God, before we were created in Christ, made ready for us. pre pared a sphere of moral action or (to use the simile of Chrysostom) a road, with the intent that we should walk in it. ^ This sphere, this road was good works, epya ayada.." Ellicott. G. A.] things whatsoever I commanded you." (Matt. xxviii : 19.)And again, " Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, shall be called least in the kingdom of Heaven," (Matt, v: 19.) that is, in the resurrection; nay, he shall not enter into the kingdom ; for He is wont to call the time also of the resurrection, the king dom. " If he break one," saith He, " he shall be called least," so that we have need of all. And observe how it is not possible to enter without works of mercy ; but if even this alone be wanting, we shall depart into the fire. For, saith He, " Depart, ye cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels." Why and wherefore? "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink." (Matt, xxv: 42.) Beholdest thou, how without any other charge laid against them, for this one alone they perished. And for this reason alone too were the virgins also excluded from the bride-cham ber, though sobriety surely they did possess. As the Apostle saith " and the sanctification, without which no man shall see the Lord." (Heb. xii : 14.) Consider then, that without sobriety, it is impossible to see the Lord ; yet it does not necessarily follow that with sobriety it is possible to see Him, because often-times something else stands in the way. Again, if we do all things ever so rightly, and yet do our neighbor no service, neither in that case shall we enter into the kingdom. Whence is this evident ? From the parable of the servants en trusted with the talents. For, in that instance, the man s virtue was in every point unimpaired, and there had been nothing lacking, but foras much as he was slothful in his business, he was rightly cast out. Nay, it is possible, even by railing only, to fall into Hell. " For whoso ever " saith Christ, " shall say to his brother, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire." (Matt. v. 22.) And if a man be ever so right in all things, and yet be injurious, he shall not enter. And let no one impute cruelty to God, in that he excludes those who fail in this matter, from the kingdom of Heaven. For even with men, if any one do any thing whatsoever con trary to the law, he is banished from the king s presence. And if he transgresses so much as one of the established laws, if he lays a false accusation against another, he forfeits his office. And if he commits adultery, and is detected, he is disgraced, and even though he have done ten thousand right acts, he is undone ; and if he commits murder, and is convicted, this again is enough to destroy him. Now if the laws of men are so carefully guarded, how much more should those of God be. "But He is good," a man says. How long are we to be uttering this