ACC ~ 2 Timothy 2 v1 - 13

OVERVIEW:

Paul appeals to the intimacy of the relationship between himself and Timothy, that it might become a source of strength in the fight to remain steadfast in suffering and in faithful witness to the truth of the gospel. Various analogies and inducements are evoked to stimulate Timothy to his best efforts (CHRYSOSTOM). What is at stake here is the rigor and self-discipline that Timothy must embrace in order to be true to his commission as well as to the strict truth of his message. This will reflect a firm emphasis on the “assumed body” of Jesus in his humanity as the source of our salvation (THEODORE). The strict, quasi-military discipline of the preacher and teacher is indispensable to the preacher’s effective work, as is the free and orthodox proclamation of the incarnation as the means of salvation (THEODORET). The difficult and often unpopular position of the faithful preacher requires strict abstinence from worldly pleasures and a firm loyalty to the gospel (AMBROSIASTER).

It is clear that the whole thrust of the gospel, anticipated in the prophets, is toward the resurrection of the flesh, a resurrection anticipated by our discipline and faithfulness in the present body (PELAGIUS). If the apostle endures hardship without demoralization, much more ought the pastor to follow him in this (CHRYSOSTOM). The Scriptures are to be delivered over only to the faithful who desire to live a holy life, not to the unbelieving who will distort them (HIPPOLYTUS). The soldiers of Christ, subject to strict discipline (TERTULLIAN), form a fortification for truth (ORIGEN). Enduring hardship is a part of what it means to be a soldier (CHRYSOSTOM). The soldier’s sustenance is provided by the king (BASIL), in this case for an eternal kingdom (AUGUSTINE). He does not sleep on an ivory bed (CHRYSOSTOM). He gives satisfaction to the One in whose ranks he serves (IGNATIUS). He lets nothing else interfere (AMBROSIASTER, AMBROSE, JEROME, LEO). He must first examine the rules of the contest (JOHN CASSIAN). The costs are high (JEROME). It means nothing if he has no opponent (GREGORY OF NYSSA). He needs a good coach (BASIL). The soul is being tested as gold by fire (ORIGEN).

The word Timothy heard Paul proclaim was not spoken in secret but before many witnesses (TERTULLIAN, CHRYSOSTOM, PELAGIUS), and even in the presence of angels (BASIL). The benefits that God’s condescension has conferred upon us are of such a radical gratuitous nature that we are embarrassed to ascribe them to God (CHRYSOSTOM). The crucifixion and resurrection faith distinguish Christianity from its counterfeits (AUGUSTINE, THEODORE, THEODORET). In attesting this faith, our hands may be bound but not our tongue. Nothing can bind the tongue but cowardice and unbelief (CHRYSOSTOM). As partakers in his suffering, we rise up in his resurrection (APHRAHAT, BASIL). This we celebrate in Holy Week and Easter (AUGUSTINE). The soul is renewed who hastens to the Word (AMBROSE). Christ reigns by nature; we reign with him by grace (AMBROSE). The narrow path is unattractive by nature but becomes easy when we choose to follow it, because of our hope for the future (CHRYSOSTOM). Christ is the pattern of our patience (LEO). That he can do nothing of himself means nothing else than that he can do nothing in opposition to his Father, nothing different, nothing foreign (CHRYSOSTOM). God remains all-powerful precisely in what he, from one point of view, “cannot” do—lie, die or be unjust (AUGUSTINE).

2:1 | Be Strong in Grace

AS WITH ME, SO WITH YOU. CHRYSOSTOM: The young sailor at sea is inspired with great confidence if the master of the ship has been preserved in a shipwreck. For he will not consider that it is from the master’s inexperience that he is exposed to the storm, but from the nature of things, and this has no little effect upon his mind. In war also the captain, who sees his general wounded and recovered again, is much encouraged. And thus it produces some consolation to the faithful that the apostle should have been exposed to great sufferings and not been rendered weak by the utmost of them. … For if I, Paul, endure these things, much more ought you to bear them. If the master much, more the disciple. And this exhortation he introduces with much affection, calling him “son,” and not only so, but “my son.” If you are a son, he implies, imitate your father. HOMILIES ON 2 TIMOTHY 4.

2:2a | What You Have Heard from Me

PAUL HAS TESTIFIED BEFORE MANY WITNESSES. TERTULLIAN: Now what is this commandment, and what is this charge? From the preceding and the succeeding contexts, it will be manifest that there is no mysterious hint darkly suggested in this expression about some farfetched doctrine. A warning is rather being given against receiving any other doctrine than that which Timothy had heard from Paul, as I take it, publicly: “Before many witnesses” is his phrase. ON PRESCRIPTION AGAINST HERETICS 25.

NOT IN SECRET. CHRYSOSTOM: As if he had said: You have not heard in secret, nor apart, but in the presence of many, with all openness of speech. HOMILIES ON 2 TIMOTHY 4.

THE ANGELS ALSO ARE WITNESSES. BASIL THE GREAT: One does not speak of the Spirit and of angels as if they were equals. The Spirit is the Lord of life. The angels are our helpers, our fellow servants, faithful witnesses of the truth. It is customary for the saints to deliver God’s commandments in the presence of witnesses. St. Paul says to Timothy: “what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men.” He asks the angels to testify with him, because he knows that angels will be present when the Lord comes in the glory of his father to judge the world in righteousness. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 13.29.

BEFORE OR WITH MANY WITNESSES. PELAGIUS: Either “with many persons present I gave you mandates such as you should teach,” or “what I said I have confirmed with many examples and testimonies from the prophets.” PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY.

2:2b | Entrust to Faithful People

DO NOT DELIVER SCRIPTURE TO UNBELIEVERS. HIPPOLYTUS: [Only] see that you do not give these scriptural teachings over to unbelieving and blasphemous tongues, for that is a danger greatly to be avoided. But impart them to pious and faithful men who desire to live in a holy way and righteously with fear. For it is not to no purpose that the blessed apostle exhorts Timothy, and says, “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science falsely so called; which some professing have erred concerning the faith.” And again, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me in many exhortations, the same you should commit to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” The blessed apostle delivered these things with a pious caution, aware that they could be easily known and distorted by anyone who does not have faith. How much greater will be our danger, if, rashly and without thought, we commit the revelations of God to profane and unworthy men. TREATISE ON CHRIST AND ANTICHRIST 1.

2:3 | A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

CALL TO MILITARY DISCIPLINE. TERTULLIAN: I am aware of the excuses by which we color our insatiable carnal appetites. Our pretexts are: the necessities of props to lean on; a house to be managed; a family to be governed; chests and keys to be guarded; the wool-spinning to be dispensed; food to be attended to; cares to be generally lessened. Of course, the houses of none but married men fare well! The families of celibates, the estates of eunuchs, the fortunes of military men or of such as travel without wives have gone to rack and ruin! For are not we, too, soldiers? Soldiers, indeed, subject to all the stricter discipline, since we are subject to so great a General? ON EXHORTATION TO CHASTITY 12.

KEEP THE FORT. ORIGEN: The true soldiers of Christ must, in every way, form a fortification for truth and nowhere permit an opening for persuasive falsehood, so far as they are able. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 6.32.

ENDURE HARDNESS. CHRYSOSTOM: “You therefore must endure rough times as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” … Observe the kings on earth, how great an honor it is esteemed to serve under them. If therefore the soldier of the king ought to endure hardness, not to endure hardness is not the part of any soldier. HOMILIES ON 2 TIMOTHY 4.

2:4a | No Soldier Entangled in Civilian Pursuits

TWO MASTERS IMPOSSIBLE. AMBROSIASTER: No one can serve two masters. Since business affairs often involve the exercise of greed, the faithful churchman must be separate from these. COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY.

NO PROPERTY MANAGEMENT. JEROME: How can the clergy be managers and stewards of other men’s households and estates when they are bidden to disregard even their own interests? LETTERS 52.16.

THE SOLDIER OF VIRTUE. CHRYSOSTOM: You are a spiritual soldier. This kind of soldier does not sleep on an ivory bed but on the ground. He is not anointed with perfumed oils. These are the concern of those corrupt men who dally with courtesans, of those who act on the stage, of those who live carelessly. You must not smell of perfumes but of virtue. ON LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN 1.

NO THOUGHT OF TOMORROW. AUGUSTINE: We are not anxious about the necessities of life, because, when we can perform these labors, he feeds and clothes us as men in general are fed and clothed. When, however, we are not able to work, then he feeds and clothes us just as the birds are fed and the lilies clothed, since we are of more value than they. Therefore, in this warfare of ours, we give no thought to the morrow, because it is not by temporal concerns pertaining to the morrow but by eternal matters, the concern of the everlasting today, that we have proved ourselves to him whom we cannot please if we are entangled in worldly affairs. THE WORK OF MONKS 27.35.

SOCIALLY UNENCUMBERED. LEO THE GREAT: He who is enrolled in God’s army must not be bound to others, lest any obligatory ties call him away from the Lord’s camp, where his name is inscribed. LETTERS 4.

2:4b | Satisfying the One Who Enlisted Us

IN SERVICE TOGETHER. IGNATIUS: Pay attention to the bishop so that God will pay attention to you. I give my life as a sacrifice (poor as it is) for those who are obedient to the bishop, the presbyters and the deacons. Along with them may I get my share of God’s reward! Share your hard training together—wrestle together, run together, suffer together, retire together, get up together, as God’s stewards, assessors and assistants. Give satisfaction to him in whose ranks you serve and from whom you get your pay. Let none of you be a deserter. Let your baptism be your arms; your faith, your helmet; your love, your spear; your endurance, your armor. LETTER TO POLYCARP 6.1-2.

TO BE HOLY. ORIGEN: If you have understood how either an animal or a vessel or a garment is called holy, understand too that a person is also called holy by these observances and laws. For if anyone should devote himself to God, if anyone should not entangle himself in secular affairs, “in order to please him who appointed him,” if anyone was separated and set apart from the rest of men who live carnally and are bound with mundane affairs and does not seek things which are upon the earth but which are in heaven, that person is deservedly called holy. HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 11.1.

IN THE KING’S CARE. BASIL THE GREAT: Where is Christ, the King? In heaven, to be sure. In this direction it behooves you, soldier of Christ, to direct your course. Forget all earthly delights. A soldier does not build a house. He does not aspire to the possession of lands. He does not concern himself with devious, coin-purveying trade. … The soldier enjoys a sustenance provided by the king. He need not furnish his own nor vex himself in this regard. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ASCETICAL LIFE.

CLERICAL DISCIPLINE. MAXIMUS OF TURIN: Clerics do not seem to be on military service in the world, yet they are nonetheless soldiers for God and the Lord. As the apostle says, No one soldiering for God involves himself in secular affairs. We seem, I say, not to be soldiers in our loose and flowing tunics, but we have our military belt, by which we are bound to an interior purity. SERMONS 26.4.

2:5a | An Athlete Is Not Crowned

THE WORLD AN ARENA. AMBROSE: What is the world but an arena full of fighting? Therefore the Lord says in the Apocalypse, “To the victor I shall give the crown of life,” and Paul says, “I have fought the good fight,” and elsewhere, “No one is crowned unless he has competed according to the rules.” He who initiated the contest is actually almighty God. When one initiates a contest in this world, does he not prepare all that is necessary for the contest, and only after he has made ready the wreaths for rewards call those who are to contend for the crown, so that the winner may not meet with delay but depart after being given his reward? The rewards of man are the fruits of the earth and the lights of heaven. The former are for his use in the present life; the latter, for his hope of life eternal. Like an athlete, then, he comes last into the arena. … It is he who poises the blow, it is Christ who strikes; he lifts his heel, Christ directs it to the wound. … In preaching Christ he deals wounds to all those spiritual evils which are his enemies. Not undeservedly, then, does man enter the stadium last, and a crown is prepared for him so that heaven might go before him as being his reward. LETTERS 49.

2:5b | Competing According to the Rules

MORTAL LIFE ITSELF THE CONTEST. ORIGEN: We who are concerned with the business of our Creator will live according to the laws of God. We have no desire to serve the laws of sin. … If necessary, we will also partake of the joys of this life and endure the appointed evils as trials of the soul. … In them the soul of the man who is being tested, like gold in the fire, is either convicted of failure or is manifested as reliable. … Moreover, no one is crowned unless he strives lawfully even here upon earth with the body of humiliation. AGAINST CELSUS 8.56.

DO ALL THAT IS FITTING. CHRYSOSTOM: What is meant by “lawfully”? It is not enough that he enters into the lists, that he is anointed, and even engages, unless he comply with all the laws of the exercise. This includes those that pertain to diet, to temperance and sobriety, and all the rules of the wrestling school. Unless, in short, he goes through all that is befitting for a wrestler, he is not crowned. HOMILIES ON 2 TIMOTHY 4.

THE ATHLETIC ANALOGY. CHRYSOSTOM: You say that her clothes are shabby, but virginity resides not in clothing nor in one’s complexion but in the body and soul. Is it not strange that we have different standards? We will not judge the philosopher by his hair or his staff or his tunic but by his way of life, his character and soul. The soldier too we will not approve for his mantle or belt but for his strength and manliness. Yet the virgin, who represents a state so admirable and superior to all others, we will simply and offhandedly assume practices her virtue because of the squalor of her hair, her dejected look and gray cloak. We do not strip her soul bare and scrutinize closely its inner state. But he who has drawn up the rules for this contest does not permit this. He orders that those who have entered not be judged by their clothing but by the convictions of their souls. “Athletes,” Paul says, “deny themselves all sorts of things,” anything that would trouble the health of the soul. “If one takes part in an athletic contest, he cannot receive the winner’s crown unless he has kept the rules.” What, then, are the laws of this contest? Hear again his words, or rather Christ himself, who has established the contest: “The virgin is concerned with things of the Lord, in pursuit of holiness in body and spirit.” ON VIRGINITY 7.1-2.

EXPECT A RIGOROUS LIFE. CHRYSOSTOM: In a word, it is absolutely necessary for one who hopes to please God and to be acceptable and pure, not to pursue a relaxed and slippery and dissolute life, but a laborious life, groaning with much toil and sweat. For no one is crowned, Paul says, “unless he competes according to the rules.” ON LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN 3.

YOU NEED A GOOD COACH. BASIL THE GREAT: But, if you place yourself in the hands of a man rich in virtue, you will become the heir of the good qualities he possesses and you will be supremely blessed with God and men. On the other hand, if, to spare the body, you seek a master who will condescend or, rather, degrade himself to the level of your vices, all in vain did you endure the struggle of renunciation, since you have surrendered yourself to a life of gratifying your passions by choosing a blind guide who will lead you into the pit. ON RENUNCIATION OF THE WORLD.

THE NECESSITY OF THE OPPONENT. GREGORY OF NYSSA: How can there be a lawful contest if there is no opponent? If there is no opponent, there is no crown. Victory does not exist by itself, without there being a defeated party. ON PERFECTION.

THE COST OF THE CONTEST. JEROME: Christ’s athlete is not crowned unless he has competed according to the rules, unless he has accepted and sustained the challenge, unless his face is black and blue from the fray and bathed in blood. It is the discolored bruises that deserve a crown, and suffering and pain that merit joy. HOMILIES 43.1.

LOOK FIRST AT THE RULES OF THE CONTEST. JOHN CASSIAN: One who wants to extinguish the natural desires of the flesh should first hasten to overcome those vices whose ground is contrary to our nature. For if we desire to test out the force of the apostle’s counsel, we ought first to learn what are the laws and what the discipline of the world’s contest. This is so that finally by a comparison with these, we may be able to know what the blessed apostle meant to teach to us who are striving in the spiritual contest. INSTITUTES 5.12.

2:8 | Remember Jesus Christ

THE DIVINE CONDESCENSION. CHRYSOSTOM: Why is this mentioned? It is directed chiefly against the heretics, at the same time to encourage Timothy, by underscoring the divine blessings accompanying sufferings, since Christ, our Master, himself overcame death by suffering. … For upon this point many had already begun to subvert God’s providence, being ashamed at the immensity of God’s love for humanity. For of such a nature are the benefits which God has conferred upon us that we were embarrassed to ascribe them to God and could not believe he had so far condescended. HOMILIES ON 2 TIMOTHY 4.

THE REALITY OF INCARNATION. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Some were teaching that it was merely the “assumed body” which came from the seed of David. Paul taught this to combat Simon’s Docetic heresy, by which the resurrection is emptied of meaning. COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY.

COUNTERING HERESY. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul discusses here only the human nature of Christ because he is responding to Simon’s heresy, where the true enfleshment of the Savior is denied. INTERPRETATION OF THE SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY.

THE CENTRALITY OF RESURRECTION. AUGUSTINE: Let us believe in Christ crucified; but in him as the one who rose again on the third day. That’s the faith that distinguishes us from them, distinguishes us from the pagans, distinguishes us from the Jews—the faith by which we believe that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. The apostle says to Timothy, “Remember that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my gospel.” And again the same apostle, “Because if you believe in your heart,” he says, “that Jesus is Lord, and confess with your lips that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is the salvation, the well-being, the safety and the soundness, which I discussed yesterday. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. I know that you believe; you will be saved. Hold firmly in your hearts, profess it with your lips, that Christ has risen from the dead. SERMONS 234.3.

2:9a | The Gospel for Which I Am Suffering

PAUL TAUGHT FROM PRISON. CHRYSOSTOM: For just as it is not possible to bind a sunbeam or to shut it up within the house, so neither can the preaching of the word be bound. And what was much more, when the teacher was bound, the word flew abroad. He inhabited the prison, and yet his teaching winged its way everywhere throughout the world! HOMILIES CONCERNING THE STATUES 16.5.

MORE CONSOLATION. CHRYSOSTOM: Out of his own story he once again brings consolation and encouragement. He prepares his hearer’s mind in two phases: First that he should be ready to endure hard times. Second, he does this for a useful purpose, gaining though he suffers harm. HOMILIES ON 2 TIMOTHY 4.

2:9b | The Word of God Is Not Fettered

TONGUES UNBOUND. CHRYSOSTOM: But now God has made us such that nothing can subdue us. For our hands are bound but not our tongue, since nothing can bind the tongue but cowardice and unbelief. Where these are not, though you fasten chains upon us, the preaching of the gospel is not bound. HOMILIES ON 2 TIMOTHY 4.

LIGHT AMID STORMS. CHRYSOSTOM: Any cloud passing over our skies may from time to time make us gloomy. But Paul’s heart had no such storms sweeping over it. Or better, there did sweep over him, and often, many storms, but his day was not darkened. Rather in the midst of the temptations and dangers the light shone out. Thus when bound with his chain he kept exclaiming, “The word of God is not bound.” Thus continually by means of that tongue the Word was sending forth its rays. HOMILIES ON FIRST CORINTHIANS 13.4.

THE SOUL DRAWN TO THE WORD. AMBROSE: On this account also it is said to the soul, “Your youth shall be renewed like the eagle’s.” For the psalmist spoke to the soul and said, “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” And therefore the soul hastens to the Word and asks that she be drawn to him, so that she may not, perhaps, be left behind, for “the Word of God runs and is not bound.” ISAAC, OR THE SOUL 3.10.

2:10 | They Also May Obtain Salvation

FOR OTHERS. CHRYSOSTOM: Behold another incentive. I endure these things, he says, not for myself but for the salvation of others. It was in my power to have lived free from danger; to have suffered none of these things, if I had consulted my own interest. On what account then do I suffer these things? For the good of others, that others may obtain eternal life. HOMILIES ON 2 TIMOTHY 4.

2:11 | Dying and Living with Christ

FALLING, WE RISE. ORIGEN: The Savior, too, first granted you this very thing—that you should fall. You were a Gentile. Let the Gentile in you fall. You loved prostitutes. Let the lover of prostitutes in you perish first. You were a sinner. Let the sinner in you fall. Then you can rise again and say, “If we have died with him, we shall also live with him,” and, “If we have been made like him in death, we shall also be like him in resurrection.” HOMILIES ON LUKE 17.3.

IN BAPTISM AND IN LIVING. CHRYSOSTOM: But how are we “dead with him”? This death refers to both that in the Laver and that in sufferings. HOMILIES ON 2 TIMOTHY 5.

MADE KING, PRIEST AND PROPHET IN BAPTISM. CHRYSOSTOM: So also you are yourself made king and priest and prophet in the washing of baptism. You are a king by having dashed to earth all the deeds of wickedness and slain your sins. You are a priest in that you offer yourself to God, having sacrificed your body and being yourself slain also, “for if we died with him,” says he, “we shall also live with him.” You are a prophet, knowing what shall be, being inspired of God and sealed. HOMILIES ON SECOND CORINTHIANS 3.

CHRIST REIGNS BY NATURE, WE BY GRACE. AMBROSE: The apostle says that even we shall reign together with Christ in the kingdom of Christ. “If we are dead with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him.” But we by adoption, he by power; we live by grace, he by nature. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 3.20.157.

HIS SIGN UPON OUR BODIES. APHRAHAT: Let us honor the spirit of Christ, that we may receive grace from him. Let us be strangers to the world, even as Christ was not of it. Let us be humble and mild, that we may inherit the land of life. Let us be unflagging in his service, that he may cause us to serve in the abode of the saints. Let us pray his prayer in purity, that it may have access to the Lord of majesty. Let us be partakers in his suffering, so that we may also rise up in his resurrection. Let us bear his sign upon our bodies, that we may be delivered from the wrath to come. SELECT DEMONSTRATIONS 6.1.

THE BAPTISMAL ASSURANCE. BASIL THE GREAT: Having been planted with him in the likeness of his death, we will assuredly be raised up together with Christ (for the planting implies this eventuality). But in the present life, we are formed in the inner man according to the measure of the incarnation in newness of life and obedience unto death, fully persuaded of the truth of his words, so that we may become worthy to say with truth, “And I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me.” That this obtains also for the future life. The same apostle has strongly affirmed this in these words: “For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” CONCERNING BAPTISM 1.15.

PASSION AND RESURRECTION. AUGUSTINE: We ought to be humble of heart out of the sincerest devotion during the whole time of this wandering exile, in which we are living in the midst of trials and temptations. If so, how much more should we be so during these days, when as well as spending this time of humility by living it, we are also signifying it by our liturgical celebration of it. The lowliness of Christ has taught us to be lowly, because by dying he yielded to the godless. Christ’s highness makes us exalted, because by rising again he has led the way for the godly. … We celebrate one of these things now, when his passion is, so to say, drawing near. We celebrate the other after Easter with appropriate devotion, when his resurrection, so to say, has been accomplished. SERMONS 206.1.

HIS PASSION IN THE FLESH, IMPASSIBILITY AS GOD. NICETAS OF REMESIANA: We must believe both his passion according to the flesh and his impassibility inasmuch as he was God. … Let us confess our oneness with Christ, lest we be separated from him. In the words of the apostle, “If we have died with him, we shall also live with him.” INSTRUCTION ON FAITH 7.

2:12 | Enduring and Reigning with Him

THE NARROW PATH MADE EASY. CHRYSOSTOM: Accordingly, I beseech you, let us so perform all our actions that we may not fail to obtain such glory as this. To obtain it is by no means difficult, if we desire it, or arduous, if we apply ourselves to it. For, “If we endure, we shall also reign.” What is the meaning of “If we endure”? If we patiently bear tribulations and persecutions; if we walk the narrow path. The narrow path is unattractive by nature but becomes easy when we choose to follow it, because of our hope for the future. HOMILIES ON JOHN 87.3.

THE PATTERN OF OUR PATIENCE. LEO THE GREAT: In him therefore is our hope of eternal life, and in him also is the pattern of our patience. “If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him,” since, as the apostle says, “those who claim that they remain in Christ ought themselves to walk just as Christ walked.” Otherwise we are appearing under the likeness of a false profession if we do not follow the commands of him in whose name we glory. And these would indeed not be burdensome to us and would free us from all dangers, if we would only love what he commands us to love. SERMONS 90.2.

2:13a | He Remains Faithful

INEFFABLE STRENGTH. CHRYSOSTOM: Therefore, “He can do nothing of himself” means nothing else than that he can do nothing in opposition to his Father, nothing different, nothing foreign. This is an attribute especially belonging to one who is giving proof of his equality with the Father and of complete agreement as well. But why does he not say, “He does nothing in opposition” instead of “He cannot”? It was in order that he might show from this once more that his equality is undeviating and complete. This statement does not imply any weakness in him but testifies to his great power. Besides, Paul says elsewhere of the Father, “That by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to deceive”; and again, “If we disown him, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” Now this word “cannot” is not, of course, indicative of weakness but of strength; indeed, ineffable strength. HOMILIES ON JOHN 38.3.

GOD REMAINS FAITHFUL. ATHANASIUS: Now the so-called gods of the Greeks, unworthy of the name, are faithful neither in their essence nor in their promises. They do not abide everywhere. The local deities come to nought in the course of time and undergo a natural dissolution. … But the God of all, being one really and indeed and true, is faithful, who is ever the same. … He is ever the same and unchanging, deceiving neither in his essence nor in his promise. As again says the apostle writing to the Thessalonians, “Faithful is he who calls you, who also will do it”; for in doing what he promises, he is faithful to his words. And he thus writes to the Hebrews as to the word’s meaning “unchangeable”: “If we believe not, yet he abides faithful; he cannot deny himself.” DISCOURSES AGAINST THE ARIANS 2.10.

2:13b | For He Cannot Deny Himself

WHY GOD CANNOT DENY HIMSELF. AUGUSTINE: The only thing the Almighty cannot do is what he does not will, in case anybody should consider it was very rash of me to say that the Almighty “cannot” do something. The blessed apostle said it too, “If we do not believe, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.” But it is because he does not wish to that he cannot do it, because he cannot even have the will to. Justice, after all, cannot have the will to do what is unjust, or wisdom will what is foolish, or truth will what is false. SERMONS 214.4.

IS GOD ALL-POWERFUL IN WHAT HE “CANNOT” DO? AUGUSTINE: God is all-powerful, and, since he is all-powerful, he cannot die, he cannot be deceived, he cannot lie, and, as the apostle says, “he cannot disown himself.” Very much he cannot do, yet he is all-powerful. It is because he cannot do these things for the very reason that he is all-powerful. If he could die, he would not be all-powerful. If he could lie, if he could be deceived, if he could deceive, if it were possible for him to do an injustice, he would not be omnipotent. If it were in him to do any of this, such acts would not be worthy of the Almighty. Absolutely omnipotent, our Father cannot sin. ON THE CREED 1.2.