Chapter 13.—20. There is therefore "no fellowship between righteousness and unrighteousness,"1413
not only without, but also within the
Church; for "the
Lord knoweth them that are His," and "Let every one that nameth the name of
Christ depart from
iniquity." There is also "no
communion between
light and
darkness,"
1414
not only without, but also within the
Church; for "he that hateth his
brother is still in
darkness."
1415
And they at any rate
hated Paul, who,
preaching Christ of
envy and malicious
strife, supposed that they added
affliction to his
bonds;
1416
and yet the same Cyprian understands these still to have been within the
Church. Since, therefore, "neither
darkness can enlighten, nor
unrighteousness justify,"
1417
as Cyprian again says, I ask, how could those men
baptize within the very
Church herself? I ask, how could those
vessels which the large
house contains not to
honor, but to
dishonor,
administer what is holy for the sanctifying of men within the great
house itself, unless because that
holiness of the sacrament cannot be polluted even by the
unclean, either when it is given at their
hands, or when it is received by those who in
heart and
life are not changed for the better?
of whom, as situated within the
Church, Cyprian himself says, "Renouncing the
world in word only, and not in
deed."
1418
21. There are therefore also within the Church "enemies of God, whose hearts the spirit of Antichrist has possessed;" and yet they, "deal with spiritual and divine things,"1419
| 1419 Cypr. Ep. lxxiii. 15.
|
which cannot
profit for their
salvation so long as they remain such as they are; and yet neither can they pollute them by their own uncleanness. With regard to what he says, therefore, "that they have no part given them in the
saving grace of the
Church, who, scattering and fighting against the
Church of
Christ, are called
adversaries by
Christ Himself, and
antichrists by His
apostles,
1420
| 1420 Cypr. Ep. lxxiii. 15.
|
this must be received under the consideration that there are men of this
kind both within and without. But the separation of those that are within from the
perfection and
unity of the
dove is not only known in the case of some men to
God, but even in the case of some to their fellow-men; for, by regarding their openly abandoned
life and confirmed
wickedness, and comparing it with the rules of
God’s
commandments, they understand to what a multitude of tares and
chaff,
situated now some within and some without, but destined to be most manifestly separated at the last day, the
Lord will then say, "Depart from me, ye that
work iniquity,"
1421
and "Depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
1422
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