The Great Letter

II.1 All, therefore, who dedicate themselves to God and strive to present their bodies as "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God," for their rational service [Rom. 12:1], should above all keep continually before their eyes the goal and radiance of piety. Thus, surrendering themselves to every good work and zealously exercising themselves in every virtue, they may remain steadfast in faith according to the sacred promises of the Gospels and the other Scriptures. They must be firmly persuaded that through the grace of Christ and the power of God it is possible for us to attain complete deliverance and purification from the passions of dishonor that operate in soul and body. For what is impossible for us is possible for the God who has made the promises. [Matt. 19:26] The sinful passions came upon soul and body afterward, through the transgression of the first-formed man.

II.2 In order to be deemed worthy, wholly and completely, of adoption by the Spirit for the sanctification of soul and body, one must believe with full assurance, according to him who said: "Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know." [1 Thess. 1:5] And again: "May your spirit and soul and body be preserved whole and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." [1 Thess. 5:23]

II.3 We who believe received, through the holy and thrice-blessed invocation in baptism, the pledge of the Spirit's ineffable beneficence, so that we might grow and advance toward the perfect inheritance [Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27] and multiply the talent entrusted to us. For the divine Spirit, the Paraclete, who was given to the apostles and through them ministered to the one and true Church of God in diverse and manifold ways according to the measure of faith, remains from the hour of baptism with each person who approaches the mystery in sincere faith. For, as the Gospel says, each receives his mina that he may put it to work, increase it, and multiply it. [Luke 19:12-27; Matt. 25:14-30]

II.4 Just as an infant born in this age does not remain forever in infancy, but day by day grows by a necessary succession according to the ineffable laws of nature until he becomes a mature man and reaches the fullness of his rational powers, so too one who has been born from above of water and Spirit [John 3:3-5] ought not remain in the infancy of spiritual age. Rather, through many efforts, labors, and much endurance in the struggle against the spiritual adversary, he must advance and grow until he reaches the fullness of spiritual maturity, according to the Apostle: "until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in schemes of error, but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is Christ." [Eph. 4:13-15] Elsewhere the Apostle says: "Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, the good and acceptable and perfect." [Rom. 12:2] He teaches that those who have come to mature stature and attained the rational perfection of the spirit must press on toward the perfect will of God.

II.5 When a child advances from bodily birth to adulthood by the necessary succession and law of nature, this comes about under the law of providence, which governs bodily growth by necessity and not by the choice of free will. But concerning the birth from above by the Spirit, God did not appoint such a necessary sequence. He ordained instead labor, struggle, and contest, freely chosen by the human person and endured with much patience, according to the Lord's words: "Strive to enter through the narrow gate." [Luke 13:24] And again: "The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent seize it." [Matt. 11:12] Also: "The one who endures to the end will be saved" [Matt. 10:22], and "By your endurance gain your souls." [Luke 21:19] The Apostle likewise says: "Let us run with endurance the race set before us" [Heb. 12:1], and "Run in such a way that you may obtain it" [1 Cor. 9:24], and again, "as servants of God, in much endurance" [2 Cor. 6:4]. Thus the grace of God has ordered matters so that each person acquires spiritual growth through his own will and desire, by labor and struggle.