talk and be nothing. Teaching is an excellent thing, pro-
To THE EPHESIANS
have a share—to wear them when I rise from the dead! Thus I shall be found in the ranks of the Christians of Ephesus, who have ever been of one mind with the Apostles through the power of Jesus Christ.
12. I know who I am and to whom I am writing. I have been condemned, you have been spared; I am in danger, you are in perfect safety.
2 You are the highway® of God's martyrs. You are fellow initiates with Paul, a man sanctified, of character magnificently attested, and worthy of every felicitation, in whose footsteps I wish to be found when I come to meet God, and who in an entire epistle remembers you in Christ Jesus.
13. Make an effort, then, to meet more frequently to celebrate God's Eucharist and to offer praise.** For, when you meet frequently in the same place, the forces of Satan are overthrown, and his baneful influence is neutralized by the unanimity of your faith. 2 Peace is a precious thing: it puts an end to every war waged by heavenly or earthly enemies.
14. Nothing of this escapes you; only persevere to the end in your faith in, and your love for, Jesus Christ. Here is the beginning and the end of life: faith is the beginning, the end is love; ** and when the two blend perfectly with each other, they are God.* Everything else that makes for right living is consequent upon these.
2 No one who professes faith sins;** no one who possesses love hates. The tree is known by its fruit.** In like manner, those who profess to belong to Christ will be known as such by their conduct.
Certainly, what matters now is not mere profession of faith, but whether one is found to be actuated by it to the end.*"
15. It is better to keep silence and be something than to talk and be nothing. Teaching is an excellent thing, pro-