For just as the Lord is an advocate on our behalf before the Father, so also there is an advocate whom he deigned to send after his ascension.

How could Jesus have become an advocate and propitiation without the power of God which completely destroys our weakness, a power furnished by Jesus which flows in the souls of believers?

Let us consider whether the title advocate (paraclete) means one thing when applied to the Savior and another when applied to the Holy Spirit.^[1] In regard to the Savior paraclete seems to mean intercessor, for in Greek it bears both meanings, comforter and intercessor, but according to the phrase which follows, in which it is said that he is the propitiation for our sins, it seems that it must mean intercessor, because he intercedes with the Father for our sins. When used of the Holy Spirit, however, the word paraclete ought to be understood as comforter, because he provides comfort for the souls to whom he opens and reveals a consciousness of spiritual knowledge.

We have an advocate, Jesus Christ, not indeed someone who prostrates himself before the Father on our behalf—such an idea is slavish and unworthy of the Spirit! It would be unworthy of the Father to require this, as also for the Son to submit to it, nor is it right to think such things of God. But by what he suffered as man, he as the Word and counselor persuades the Father to be patient with us. I think this is the meaning of his advocacy.

I will not glory because I have been redeemed. I will not glory because I am free of sins but because sins have been forgiven me. I will not glory because I am profitable or because anyone is profitable to me but because Christ is an advocate on my behalf before the Father, because the blood of Christ has been poured out on my behalf.

If you should have a case to be tried before a judge and should procure an advocate, you would be accepted by the lawyer and he would plead your case to the best of his ability. If, before he has finished his plea, you should hear that he is to be the judge, how you would rejoice, because he could be your judge, who shortly before was your lawyer.

Christ is a judge when he sits and an advocate when he rises. It is clear that he was a judge to Jews^[1] but arises as an advocate for Christians. On the one hand, standing before the Father of the Christians, even though they are sinners, he pleads their cause, while on the other he sits with the Father of the Pharisees, who are persecutors, condemning their sins. Angry with the ones, he wreaks harsh vengeance on them, while he gently has mercy on the others, interceding on their behalf.

There is a problem here. A righteous advocate never takes unrighteous cases, which ours of course are. What can we do, dear brothers? The only way to get around this is to follow what Scripture says: The righteous man accuses himself first of all.^[1] Therefore a sinner who weeps over his sins and accuses himself is set on the path of righteousness, and Jesus can take up his case.

John knows that those who have been enlightened have not been given an impassible nature, but neither have they been let out of prison in order that they might sin.

There is no contradiction between what John is saying here and what he has just said in the first chapter, namely, that it is impossible to live without sin. There he warned us with great foresight and concern for our welfare that we must be aware of our human frailty and not think that we are somehow innocent. Here, following on from that, he tells us that if we want to avoid all blame for our sinful state, we must do our utmost to live in such a way that we are not bound by it, but rather put it away from us as firmly and as conscientiously as we can, so that we can overcome at least the greater and more obvious faults that we have. . . . The Lord intercedes for us not by words but by his dying compassion, because he took upon himself the sins which he was unwilling to condemn his elect for.

John calls Jesus our advocate because it is he who prays to the Father for us. In saying this he is speaking in a human way and within a human context, just as elsewhere he says: The Son can do nothing by himself.^[1] He puts it this way so that the Son will not appear to be the Father’s opponent. For that the Son has the power to forgive sins is clear from the case of the paralytic,^[2] and by giving his disciples the power to forgive sins, he shows that he can also share his power with others.^[3]

Christ saves from all sin. He converts some by punishing them and others by their own free will and with the dignity of honor.

When John says that Christ died for the sins of the whole world, what he means is that he died for the whole church.

John is saying: I am writing these things to you, not so that you may say that you no longer sin at all, but so that when you do sin, you will not remain in that state, for Jesus propitiates your sins in the Father’s presence.

In his humanity Christ pleads for our sins before the Father, but in his divinity he has propitiated them for us with the Father. Furthermore, he has not done this only for those who were alive at the time of his death, but also for the whole church which is scattered over the full compass of the world, and it will be valid for everyone, from the very first among the elect until the last one who will be born at the end of time. This verse is therefore a rebuke to the Donatists, who thought that the true church was to be found only in Africa. The Lord pleads for the sins of the whole world, because the church which he has bought with his blood exists in every corner of the globe.^[1]

The one who understands will also do the works which pertain to the duty of virtue, but someone who does the works is not necessarily among those who understand. For he may just be someone who understands the difference between right and wrong but who has no knowledge of the heavenly mysteries. Furthermore, knowing that some people do the right thing out of fear of punishment or for some kind of reward, John teaches that a man of perfect understanding does these things out of love.

Often in the Scriptures the word know means not just being aware of something but having personal experience of it. Jesus did not know sin, not because he was unaware of what it is but because he never committed it himself. For although he is like us in every other way, he never sinned.^[1] Given this meaning of the word know, it is clear that anyone who says that he knows God must also keep his commandments, for the two things go together.

John shows here that true knowledge means demonstrating that one is faithful to Christ by obeying his commandments.

Those who are perishing do not know God, and God will deny that he has even known them, as he himself said: Depart from me, for I have never known you.^[1]

We can be said to be loving God only to the extent that we are keeping his commandments.

It is obvious that the person who does not keep God’s commandments has no knowledge of him.

The person who really loves God keeps his commandments and by so doing realizes that he knows the love of God. Our obedience results in his love.

Love sustains all those who try to put God’s commandments into practice.

The person who really knows God is the one who proves that he lives in his love by keeping his commandments. Love is the sure sign that we know God. We know that we are truly children of God when his love in us persuades us to pray even for our enemies, as he himself did when he said: Father, forgive them.^[1]

Our hope of eternal life is in him. He is the pattern of our patience. Otherwise we are using the likeness of a false profession if we do not follow the commands of him in whose name we glory. And these would not be burdensome to us and would free us from all dangers, if we would love only what he commands us to love.

There are three ways that we dwell in God—by faith, by hope and by love. God dwells in us by patience and humility.

Let us follow Christ’s footsteps with the entire effort of our minds. And so that we may deserve to come to the gate of his heavenly kingdom, let us seriously consider entering it by that course of action by which he proceeded when he was spending his life on earth.

You had the commandment through the law and the prophets.

Some people were apparently objecting that the Evangelist’s teaching was a new thing, and so he had to insist that this was not so.

John is talking here about love. The commandment was not new, because long before that time it had been proclaimed by the prophets.

Someone may ask how it was possible for the hearers of this letter to have known the commandment from the beginning, since they were not Jews (as appears from the end of the letter, where they are told to keep themselves from idols). But is there not a commandment which is old, which has existed from the beginning and which all people everywhere have heard? For everybody, even domestic animals, naturally loves those who are close to them.

God’s commandment to love was old because it had been around since the beginning of time, but it was also new, because once the darkness was taken away, it poured the desire for new light into our hearts.

The darkness is the darkness of perversion, and the light is the light of faith, working in us according to God’s foreordained plan.

The commandment is true in him because he loved us so much that he died for us, and it will be true in us also if we love one another.

The new dimension to the commandment is that now the light has come into the world, our Lord Jesus, because of whom the power of the devil has passed away.

The commandment is new in the sense that the old man lived in darkness, whereas the light belongs to the new man. The apostle Paul said the same thing when he wrote: Put off your old nature . . . and be renewed in the Spirit.^[1]

The commandment is new in that it is no longer restricted to Israel as it was under the law of Moses. Under that law it was normal to love one’s friends and to hate one’s enemies, as Jesus himself testified.^[1] But he then turned that around by saying that we should love our enemies and do good to those who hate us, concentrating on the fact that these people are human beings like ourselves and not worrying about how they feel toward us. ^[2] NEW IN WHAT SENSE? ISHO‘DAD OF MERV: By commandment John means the revelation of the dispensation. It cannot be called new with respect to God, but from the human point of view it was a mystery hidden in the Creator from the beginning. COMMENTARIES.^[1]

The light is the truth, and a brother is not just our neighbor but the Lord [Jesus] as well.

Perhaps you think that such darkness is like that which people suffer when they are locked in prison. If only it were as easy as that!

The person who hates is in darkness until he repents or until he discovers love.

How can someone say that he belongs to Christ and at the same time hate his brother for whom Christ died? Or if someone says he belongs to God and yet hates Christ, who has become our brother by becoming a man, he is not of God but of the devil. For if he were of God, he would love the brother who had been sent to him and anointed by grace.

The Lord told us to love our enemies, so if someone claims to be a Christian and hates his brother, he is still dead in his sins. It is good that John added the word still here, because everyone is born in the darkness of sin and remains there until he is enlightened through Christ by the grace of baptism. But the person who comes to the font or to the Lord’s Supper with hatred towards his brother is still in the darkness, even if he thinks that he has been enlightened by God, nor can he get rid of the shadows of sin unless he begins to love. ON1 JOHN.

Someone who loves his brothers is in no danger of stumbling.

The person who loves his brother puts up with everything for the sake of unity. Such an attitude keeps us from hurting anyone unduly.

Even the Gentiles have always accepted the law or command which appears to derive from nature, that we should do good to those who are of the same nature as we are. The reason for this is that man is a rational and social animal who cannot exist without mutual love. Ancient tales even relate that there were many people who were prepared to sacrifice themselves on behalf of others, and the Savior himself calls this the highest form of love: Greater love has no man than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends.^[1]

Whoever does evil and hates his brother has extinguished the lamp of love, and therefore he walks in darkness.

If a man hates his brother, he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going. In his ignorance he goes down to hell, and in his blindness he is thrown headlong into punishment, because he withdraws from the light of Christ.

The person who loses sight of love will not know which way to turn when it comes to doing good works.

Those who hate Christ do not realize that they have become the inheritors of eternal fire. This is what the devil makes them suffer, because he has blinded their inner vision.

The person who has turned away from the light of Christ goes ignorantly into hell, blind and unaware of the punishment which awaits him.

Little children means those whose sins have been forgiven.

John calls all those who have come after him in the faith of Christ his children, because they have been born again of water and the Spirit and have received the forgiveness of their sins.

John knew that not everyone would receive the gospel message with the same understanding or commitment. Some would respond like children in need of further instruction, and to them he expounds the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ.

By fathers John means those perfect people who understood everything from the very beginning and readily perceived that the Son had always existed.

The different ages here are to be understood in spiritual terms; they refer to our maturity in faith. First you must become a child and be weaned off evil. It is in this state that you must put off the weight of your old sins. Once you have done this, you can progress to the status of adolescents, when you must struggle against evil. Finally you will be deemed worthy of the deep knowledge of God which characterizes parents. This is the best and truest order of growth toward acceptance by the Father.

John calls those who are humble in spirit children. The more they humble themselves under the powerful hand of God, the more they will discover of the hidden things of his sublime eternity, as the Lord said: You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to babes.^[1]

In my opinion, if someone is a child inside, then he will appear to be a child on the outside as well, however old he is. The same is true of someone who is an overgrown teenager. But it also follows from this that anyone can be an adult and parent on the inside, whatever age they may be.

By strong young men John means those who have overcome their lusts.

The young men are a model of courage, the elders are a model of understanding, and the sons and daughters are a model of what it means to be children in Christ.

Remember that you are fathers, says John. If you forget him who is from the beginning, then you will lose that status. Never forget that you are still young men, which means that you must go on fighting until you win the battle and receive the crown of victory. Be humble, so as not to be killed in battle.

Since the nature of friendship with God is such that if anyone loves this world he is an enemy of God, it follows that if someone wants to be a friend of God and dwell in God’s love, he must turn away from love of the world and the things which are in the world.

What is there in the world but vanity, which is of no use to anybody? The distractions of the present life are unnecessary and pointless, as is the excessive abundance of worldly passions.

Do not love the world or the things in it, says the apostle, for all these things flatter our gaze with their deceptive show. Let the power of the eyes be focused on the light, not given over to error, and since that power is available for the enjoyment of life, let it not receive what causes death.

John means the lusts and desires of the world, which are ruled by the devil.

A wise father warns his children not to love things which quickly vanish away. This wisdom is the crowning glory of the supreme Maker of all things, and it is well-suited to everyone who is righteous.

Lest anyone think that he has completely broken with the system of this world, John here reminds us that something of it remains inside us and that we are attracted by it because of the desires of our flesh, which are at war with our soul. From this it may be seen that the visible world is no longer loved by those who have risen above it, who no longer contemplate temporal things but gaze on eternity instead.

John addresses these remarks to everyone indiscriminately, whether they are fathers, mature in their faith, whether they are just humble children or whether they are young people who are busily engaged in fighting spiritual battles. Whatever their situation, they must all learn to use the world when they have to but not to love it inordinately.

Let us flee the world. For what have we got in common with it? Let us run and pursue until we have laid hold of something which is permanent and does not pass away, for all things perish and pass away like a dream, and nothing is lasting or certain among the things which are seen.

The stronger and more vehement the lust which is not from the Father but from the world, the more each one becomes willing to accept all annoyances and griefs in pursuing the object of his desires.

This love of the world, which contains in itself the universal lust of the world, is the general kind of fornication by which one sins against one’s own body, in that the human mind is unceasingly enslaved to all bodily and visible desires and pleasures, left marooned and abandoned by the very Creator of all things.

The lust of the flesh is what pertains to our physical appetites, whereas the lust of the eye and the pride of life are what pertains to the vices of the soul, such as inordinate self-love, which does not come from the Father but from the devil.

None of the vain pleasures of corruption will last. They are temporal and will fade away and in fact are flimsier than any cobweb.

Those who love the world have nothing but the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. These few words describe every kind of wickedness which exists.

In discussing with the Jews, Christ explained: This is the will of the Father, that you should believe in the one whom he has sent.^[1] The one who keeps his commandments will gain eternal life.

The world will pass away on the day of judgment when it will be transformed by fire into something better, for then there will be a new heaven and a new earth. The lust of the world will also disappear, because there will be no place for it in the new creation. But the person who does God’s will does not have to worry about this because the things which he desires are heavenly and eternal, so that they do not and cannot change, whatever happens to the world.

Wise people do not go on despising the gospel and clinging to the perishable things of this world, for that is just like trying to build a house on sand.

These things are not said of all who teach false doctrine but only of those who join a false sect after they have heard the truth. It is because they were once Christians that they are now called antichrists.

Let us recall how long ago it was that John said that it is the last hour. If we had been alive then and had heard this, how could we have believed that so many years would pass after it, and would we not rather have hoped that the Lord would come while John was still present in the body?

Why is the lamb offered up in the evening and not during the day? The reason is plain enough, for our Lord and Savior suffered his passion at the close of the ages, which is why John called it the last hour.

The antichrist will come at the end of the world, and the heresies have already announced his coming, for they are his friends and brothers, since they both blaspheme Christ.

As Jesus indicated in the parable of the vineyard, this is the last hour. The laborers who were in the vineyard from the first hour cultivated the Lord’s vine, which means that by teaching and living righteous lives they served the will of their Creator. The laborers who entered at the third hour are those who came in after the time of Noah. The sixth hour was the time of Abraham. The ninth hour was the time at which the law was given. The eleventh hour is the time from the incarnation of our Lord until the end of time, which is described by divine revelation as follows. During the eleventh hour the Savior will return in the flesh, and the plague of the antichrist, who will attack the messengers of salvation, will follow.

It is possible that John calls this the last hour because in it we have reached the limits of what evil can do. For since the coming of the Savior the world has been upset by great evils caused by the devil, either as a way of testing the good or as a way of confusing those who are better still, so that they will no longer know the difference between good and evil. Therefore he calls this the last hour, because things cannot get any worse than they are now. This interpretation is supported by what he goes on to say about the antichrist.

This verse makes it plain that all who are known to have withdrawn from the love and the unity of the universal church are adversaries of the Lord and antichrists.

It seems to us that all who appear to be good and faithful ought to receive the gift of final perseverance. God, however, has judged it better to mingle some who will not persevere with the certain number of his saints, so that those for whom security in the temptations of this life is not helpful cannot be secure.

John says this because there were some people who had become teachers but had subsequently departed from the truth in order to follow the blasphemies of their own minds. But even if they were once among us, John adds, they were never really part of us, since if they had been, they would have stayed with us.

John says that the antichrists have gone out from us but then adds the comforting words that they were never really with us beforehand. In fact, he is saying that no one except an antichrist would even leave us, for those who are not against Christ will cling to his body. In the body of Christ there are those who are still being healed and who will not be fully well again until the resurrection of the dead. But there are also others who are malignant tumors, and when they are removed the body is spared. Thus it is that the departure of such people is of great benefit to the church.

Some people will ask where the antichrists have come from, and the sad answer is that they have come from our midst. That way they can pretend to have all the credibility of true disciples and stand a better chance of seducing the unwary. They became disciples themselves at first but then departed from the truth and invented their own blasphemies to replace it.

All have been anointed, not only the prophets and holy men who lived in their days but also and especially all those who later believed in the great and only true anointed one (Christ), our God and Savior, along with those who continue to believe in him. For in the divine washing of regeneration and baptism when we are symbolically anointed with myrrh, we receive his inheritance by the Holy Spirit and his rich gifts, by which we know that we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

This is what each of us has received at baptism.

The spiritual anointing is the Holy Spirit himself, who is given in the sacrament of anointing. John says that they all have this anointing and can distinguish good people from evil ones, so that he has no need to teach them what they already know because of their anointing. Because he is talking about heretics in this passage, he points out that they have received their anointing from the Holy One in order to underline the fact that the heretics and all antichrists are deprived of that gift and do not belong to the Lord but rather are servants of Satan.

They had all received the sacred anointing by their baptism and by the same Holy Spirit who led them into all truth. Because of this John was not writing to the ignorant but to people who knew what he was talking about.

Therefore it is not true that sometimes we ought to lie. What is not true we should never try to persuade anyone to believe.

You all know the truth because you received it in the rule of faith which you professed at your baptism.

You know the truth of faith and life because you have been anointed by the Spirit, and you have no need to be taught anything other than that you should continue along the path you have already embarked upon. . . . We have been warned how to recognize the antichrist, for Christ said: I am the truth.^[1] Therefore every lie is foreign to Christ, and those who tell lies do not belong to him.

This was the heresy of Simon, which said that Jesus and the Christ were two different people. According to them, Jesus was a man, the son of Mary, but Christ descended from heaven in the form of a dove at the Jordan. John therefore condemns those who think like that and brands their belief with the name of the devil. There were still others who made a distinction between the Father and some nameless deity beyond him, whom they called the Father of Christ. These too denied Jesus, saying that he was a mere man and did not have the nature of God.

John has already said that every lie is a departure from the truth, but as there are many different kinds of lies, here he is more specific. Denial of Christ is the supreme lie, a lie so great that it is hard to think of anything which can be compared with it. It is a lie which is evident among the Jews, of course, but the heretics, who do not believe in Christ in the right way, are guilty of it as well. It is also the case that orthodox people who do not follow Christ’s commands are guilty of denying that Jesus is the Christ, not because they refuse to give Christ the love and devotion which is his due as the Son of God but because they treat him as if he were a man of no account and are not afraid to contradict what he says.

In addition to the Simonians there were other heretics who followed Valentinus, who said that there was another being who was called the father apart from the Father of Christ. They also denied the Son, claiming that he was just a human being and did not possess the nature of God.

You cannot know the Father if you deny the Son, because no one comes to the Father except through him.^[1]

There were other heretics who denied the Son but claimed to know the Father. In fact of course they did not know the Father either, because if they had known him they would have known that he is the Father of the only-begotten Son. These people were similar to the Jews, who say that they know the Father but do not accept the Son. They are also like the Simonians, who share the same ungodly confusion.

John is looking for a confession of faith which involves the heart, as well as confessing in both word and deed. He is saying the same thing as the apostle Paul when he wrote: No one can say that Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit,^[1] which means that unless the Holy Spirit gives us the power to do so, we cannot serve Christ with perfect faith and action.

Rejecting ungodliness, John goes on to teach the doctrine of godliness and to encourage his listeners to accept it, saying that by it they will have fellowship with both the Father and the Son, as well as the promise of eternal life.

Follow with all your heart that faith and that teaching which you have received from the apostles at the beginning of the church, for only this will make you partakers of divine grace.

This means that if you do these things you will have fellowship with God.

Christ’s promise is that we shall receive a hundred times over in this life,^[1] and eternal life in the next.

John adds this as if to answer those who want to know what point there is in following Christ. What are we going to get out of it? The answer is that we have been promised eternal life.

What is eternal life? It is that we should know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.^[1]

People want to deceive us in order to teach you some heresy or other. John has written in order to warn us about this.

The deceivers about whom John is writing are not only the heretics who try to turn us away by their false doctrine but all those who divert weak minds from the promise of eternal life, either by charming them with the lusts of the flesh or by threatening them with the world’s disapproval.

All who await him in faith will rejoice when he comes. Those who are without faith will be ashamed when what they do not now see has indeed come.

Do not mix anything earthly with the oil of anointing with which you have been anointed, and the devil will not get hold of you.

Since you have been taught by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, you do not need contrary teachers to teach you. The anointing of which John speaks may be understood as the love of God itself, which has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.^[1]

When the Lord appears at his second coming, the one who knows the Son and the Father according to knowledge will have confidence and will not be confounded, for confusion is a great punishment.

Having the Holy Spirit as your teacher of godly knowledge, do not go after deceiving spirits, but think in the way that he has taught you, so that at his appearing in glory we may stand with confidence before him.

Those who stand firm against the persecutions of unbelievers and the ridicule which comes from worldly people around them will have complete confidence when Christ comes again, because they know that the patience of the poor will not perish at the end. But anyone who is ashamed to stand up for Christ in this life or to do anything else which the Lord commands, or who in time of persecution is afraid to be known as a believer, will have no confidence at all when Christ returns, because he has not stuck to his profession of faith in this life.

Why does John tell us to remain in Christ? So that we may have confidence in him when he appears. For what could be better or more desirable than to have confidence with which to show Christ the works we have done in this life and to do this with full assurance, not being ashamed of anything?

To be born of him means to be born again by faith.

Our righteousness is based exclusively on faith. Perfect righteousness exists only in the angels, and not even in them if they are compared to God. Nevertheless, to the extent that the righteousness of angels and the saints whom God created can be perfect, perfect righteousness is also possible for the righteous and the good, who have not fallen away or succumbed to pride but who have remained faithful and attentive to the Word of God and accepted no lord other than the One who created them.

It is obvious that the One who is righteous produces offspring who are also righteous.

[T]he whole time of your faith will not profit you unless you are made complete in the last time. For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and sheep shall be turned into wolves . . . and then shall appear the world-deceiver as the Son of God, and do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands.

Moreover, another danger, by no means trifling, shall overtake those who falsely presume that they know the name of Antichrist. For if these men assume one name, when this [Antichrist] shall come having another name, they will be easily led away by him, as supposing him not to be the expected one. . . . It is therefore more certain, and less hazardous, to await the fulfillment of the prophecy, than to make surmises and cast about for any names that may present themselves, since many names can be found possessing the number mentioned; and the same question will, after all, remain unsolved.

Now, as our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also God, was prophesied of in the form of a lion, on account of his royalty and glory, in the same way have the Scriptures spoken of Antichrist as a lion, on account of his tyranny and violence. For the deceiver seeks to liken himself in all things to the Son of God. Christ is a lion, so Antichrist is a lion; Christ is a king [Jn 18:37], so Antichrist is a king. The Savior was manifested as a lamb [Jn 1:29], so he too will appear as a lamb, though within he is a wolf. The Savior came into the world in the circumcision, and he will come in the same way. . . . The Savior raised up and showed his holy flesh like a temple [Jn 2:19], and he will raise a temple of stone in Jerusalem.

If [the heretics] desire peace, let them lay aside their arms. If they make atonement, why do they threaten? Or if they threaten, let them know that they are not feared by God’s priests. For even Antichrist, when he comes, will not enter into the Church [even though] he threatens; neither shall we yield to his arms and violence, [though] he declares that he will destroy us if we resist.

[B]ecause there can be nothing common to falsehood and truth, to darkness and light, to death and immortality, to Antichrist and Christ, we ought by all means to maintain the unity of the Catholic Church, and not give way to the enemies of faith and truth in any respect. Neither must we prescribe this from custom, but overcome opposite custom by reason. For neither did Peter, whom first the Lord chose, and upon whom he built his Church, when Paul disputed with him about circumcision, claim anything to himself insolently, nor arrogantly assume anything; so as to say that he held the primacy, and that he ought to be obeyed by novices and those lately come. Nor did he despise Paul because he had previously been a persecutor of the Church, but admitted the counsel of truth, and easily yielded to the lawful reason Paul asserted, furnishing thus an illustration to us of concord and patience.

[B]oth baptism is one and the Holy Spirit is one and the Church, founded by Christ the Lord upon Peter, by a source and principle of unity, is also one. Hence it results that with [heretics and schismatics] all things are futile and false, nothing that they have done ought to be approved by us. . . . And the blessed apostle John, keeping the commandments and precepts of the Lord, has laid it down in his letter and said, “You have heard that Antichrist shall come; even now there are many antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time . . .” [1 Jn 2:18]. Wherefore we who are with the Lord and maintain the unity of the Lord, and according to his condescension administer his priesthood in the Church, should repudiate and reject and regard as profane whatever his adversaries and the Antichrists do; and to those who, coming out of error and wickedness, acknowledge the true faith of the one Church, we should give the truth of unity and faith, by means of all the sacraments of divine grace.