Page:On The Spiritual Battle.pdf/43

 temptations and it springs from the long-suffering of a sincere life. It later leads a person into good works, many labors for good things, unshakeable long-suffering, forsaking the world, and despising all things in it. Hope expects bountiful rewards because of such long-suffering, knowing that this life is given because of God’s promises and not according to the hope of this world. People have some fading hope in the world and in its goods, praises, and affections. They strive for such things painstakingly, wanting their hope to be unshakeable and to save them when all is said and done. However, they do not often find themselves with that hope like they wished, and they will awake as from a dream in the day of their death. But whoever has the hope of God’s imperishable life takes much greater pains in goodness, because God established this time for them as a prize and will present it to them when that hope is demonstrated. No one can approach God and serve Him without this hope, for all of a person’s aspirations will die when he does.

Someone would probably say, “A person should be able to serve God while not expecting anything from Him. He can serve God for His goodness while doing nothing evil himself.” Those words are incorrect because people are unable to do that in the real world. Saint Paul loved God very much, but said, “If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” (1 Corinthians 15: 32) Holy people of long ago labored for good works and long-suffering because of hope and God’s praise, and we should do the same. But, when true hope is not in a person, he shrugs off those works that pertain to salvation as a debt and only does them for the eyes of people. That person is glad to avoid whatever he can that is grievous, arduous, and disdainful, because hope does not incline him to it. He will not hesitate to take pains for that which is necessary for his bodily life, but he will not endure difficulties, disparagement, or other temptations for the hope of a future life. If trials come to him, he rejects them and will not endure them tranquilly and humbly. Instead, he has grumbling and unrest within himself because of those temptations. A person cannot truly turn to God when there is not the true hope and expectation of eternal life. That is why the apostle calls hope a helmet, since it protects heads from mortal blows. The whole body languishes and lies sick when the head has a grave wound.

We should also understand by the Spirit that all works of the flesh are futile and dead when there is not that true hope. Without hope, these works are as delectable as food in vomit. That is why the devil is also painstaking with that blow in the head, knowing that that has a greater payoff than tempting with adultery. The devil knows that when he renders a blow to the head, he can then easily engage that corrupted person in adultery and other sins, for a hard fall into error and other sins is not far away. Hypocrisy, a cold heart, idleness in faith, and other sins are close at hand when he is destroyed like this in wrongdoing. That is why the apostle sings the praises of hope and says elsewhere, “For we are saved in hope” (Romans 8: 24), because everything that pertains to salvation will be brought to life in a person through hope. If a person loves God with pure love, he will attain salvation through true hope.

A person should transcend his own power and works because there is hope in him. Although we need to have good works for the consummation of hope. God effects our salvation without them according to His determination and grace. For that reason, eschewing works, we should have hope in the many graces and riches that He has towards us without measure for hope and salvation. There are no works sufficient for receiving eternal life, but the great treasure of God Himself is sufficient to save us without them. But that hope cannot remain in us without those works which we can have. When those works are not in us there is great imperfection in our souls, primarily because we do not have a whole heart for God. Our works testify about our hearts. Our perfect, sincere, and diligent works demonstrate that our hearts are