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The Second Epistle of Clement
Now the Lord declares, “No servant can serve two masters.”[3891] If we desire, then, to Serve both God and mammon, it will be unprofitable for us. “For what will it profit if a man gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”[3892] This world and the next are two enemies. The one urges to[3893] adultery and corruption, avarice and deceit; the other bids farewell to these things. We cannot therefore be the friends of both; and it behoves us, by renouncing the one, to make sure[3894] of the other. Let us reckon[3895] that it is better to hate the things present, since they are trifling, and transient, and corruptible; and to love those which are to come, as being good and incorruptible. For if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; otherwise, nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we disobey His commandments. For thus also saith the Scripture in Ezekiel, “If Noah, Job, and Daniel should rise up, they should not deliver their children in captivity.”[3896] Now, if men so eminently righteous[3897] are not able by their righteousness to deliver their children, how can we hope to[3898] enter into the royal residence[3899] of God unless we keep our baptism holy and undefiled? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we be found possessed of works of holiness and righteousness?[3900]
Wherefore, then, my brethren, let us struggle[3901] with all earnestness, knowing that the contest is in our case close at hand, and that many undertake long voyages to strive for a corruptible reward;[3902] yet all are not crowned, but those only that have laboured hard and striven gloriously. Let us therefore so strive, that we may all be crowned. Let us run the straight[3903] course, even the race that is incorruptible; and let us in great numbers set out[3904] for it, and strive that we may be crowned. And should we not all be able to obtain the crown, let us at least come near to it. We must remember[3905] that he who strives in the corruptible contest, if he be found acting unfairly,[3906] is taken away and scourged, and cast forth from the lists. What then think ye? If one does anything unseemly in the incorruptible contest, what shall he have to bear? For of those who do not preserve the seal[3907] unbroken, the Scripture saith,[3908] “Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh.”[3909]
As long, therefore, as we are upon earth, let us practice repentance, for we are as clay in the hand of the artificer. For as the potter, if he make a vessel, and it be distorted or broken in his hands, fashions it over again; but if he have before this cast it into the furnace of fire, can no longer find any help for it: so let us also, while we are in this world, repent with our whole heart of the evil deeds we have done in the flesh, that we may be saved by the Lord, while we have yet an opportunity of repentance. For after we have gone out of the world, no further power of confessing or repenting will there belong to us. Wherefore, brethren, by doing the will of the Father, and keeping the flesh holy, and observing the commandments of the Lord, we shall obtain eternal life. For the Lord saith in the Gospel, “If ye have not kept that which was small, who will commit to you the great? For I say unto you, that he that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much.”[3910] This, then, is what He means: “Keep the flesh holy and the seal undefiled, that ye[3911] may receive eternal life.”[3912]
And let no one of you say that this very flesh shall not be judged, nor rise again. Consider ye[3913] in what state ye were saved, in what ye received sight,[3914] if not while ye were in this flesh. We must therefore preserve the flesh as the temple of God. For as ye were called in the flesh, ye shall also come to be judged in the flesh. As Christ[3915] the Lord who saved us, though He was first a Spirit,[3916] became flesh, and thus called us, so shall we also receive the reward in this flesh. Let us therefore love one another, that we may all attain to the kingdom of God. While we have an opportunity of being healed, let us yield ourselves to God that healeth us, and give to Him a recompense. Of what sort? Repentance out of a sincere heart; for He knows all things beforehand, and is acquainted with what is in our hearts. Let us therefore give Him praise,[3917] not with the mouth only, but also with the heart, that He may accept us as sons. For the Lord has said, “Those are My brethren who do the will of My Father.”[3918]
Wherefore, my brethren, let us do the will of the Father who called us, that we may live; and let us earnestly[3919] follow after virtue, but forsake every wicked tendency[3920] which would lead into transgression; and flee from ungodliness, lest evils overtake us. For if we are diligent in doing good, peace will follow us. On this account, such men cannot find it, i.e., peace, as are[3921] influenced by human terrors, and prefer rather present enjoyment to the promise which shall afterwards be fulfilled. For they know not what torment present enjoyment incurs, or what felicity is involved in the future promise. And if, indeed, they themselves only did such things, it would be the more tolerable; but now they persist in imbuing innocent souls with their pernicious doctrines,[3922] not knowing that they shall receive a double condemnation, both they and those that hear them.
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