Sermon 166

SERMO 166

Concerning what the Apostle Paul said (Ephesians 4:25):
"LAYING ASIDE FALSEHOOD, SPEAK THE TRUTH"
AND CONCERNING WHAT IS SAID THERE (PS 115, 11):
"Every man is a liar"

Lying is forbidden to man.

This statement, which the Apostle said: Putting away falsehood, speak the truth, is not contrary to that statement which is said in the Psalm: Every man is a liar, if the Lord grants understanding, we will briefly explain. What then is: Putting away falsehood, speak the truth; and: Every man is a liar? Does God command impossible things through the Apostle? No. What then does He command? I dare to say: but may you accept it as said without offense, because I also say it about myself; God commands this, that we should not be humans. For if I were to say: God commands that you should not be humans, perhaps you would take it harshly; and so I included myself, so that no one may be angry.

Men are troubled because they are men. In the old man, falsehood; in the new man, truth.

But I say more to your Holiness: we find the Apostle accusing men, as if it were a crime, for being men; for in reproaching them he said this. Just as we, when angry, say to someone: "You are a beast"; so he, in rebuking them with the rod of the Lord's discipline, accused men because they were men. What did he want them to become, for whom it was a crime to be men? For he says, "For whereas there is among you envying and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk after the manner of men? For when one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not men?" Rebuking and reproaching he said, "Are ye not men?" What then did he want them to become, except what is said in the Psalm, "I said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High"? This indeed God said: for to this He calls. But what does He add? "But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes." And there it is a reproach that is cast, with the words: "But ye shall die like men." For Adam is man, and not the Son of Man; Christ, however, is the Son of Man and God. The old man pertains to falsehood, that is, Adam; the new man to truth, the Son of Man, that is, Christ God. If you discard falsehood, put off Adam; if you speak the truth, put on Christ; and those things will not be contrary to you which are now set in Scripture. For the Apostle, warning to put off the old man and put on the new, says: "Putting away lying, speak every man truth." And the Psalm was admonishing and lamenting those who, unwilling to put off Adam and put on Christ, did not want to be new men, but only men, to whom it is said: "Are ye not men?" and upon whom falls what is said: "Every man is a liar."

How the things that are of God, become ours.

If you wish to be a man, you will be a liar. Do not wish to be a man, and you will not be a liar. Put on Christ, and you will be truthful; so that what you have spoken will not be your own as if belonging to you, and founded by you, but of the truth enlightening and illuminating you. For if you are stripped of the light, you will remain in your darkness, and you will not be able to speak anything but lies. For the Lord himself says: He who speaks a lie, speaks of his own; because every man is a liar. Therefore, he who speaks the truth does not speak of his own but of God. Not indeed in such a way that we say he speaks of what is alien; for they become his own when he loves what he receives and gives thanks to the one who gives. For if the enlightenment of truth is taken away from a man, he will remain like one naked, stripped of the garment of light, and he will not be able to speak anything but lies. For this remains in him, which is written in the Psalm: Every man is a liar.

You have been called to be not a human, but a son of God.

There is therefore no reason for anyone to complain and say to me: "I lie because I am a man." For I will also say confidently: "Do not be a man, so that you do not lie." Therefore, he says, "Will I not be a man?" Not indeed. For you are called to this by Him who became a man for you, so that you might not be a man. Do not be angry. It is not said to you in such a way that you should not be a man to become a beast, but so that you may be among those who were given the power to become children of God. For God wants to make you god; but not by nature, as He whom He begat; but by His gift and adoption. Just as He became a partaker of your mortality through humanity, so He makes you a partaker of His immortality through exaltation. Therefore, give thanks and embrace what has been given, so that you may deserve to enjoy what you were called to. Do not be Adam, and you will not be a man. If not a man, certainly not a liar; because: "Every man is a liar." And when you begin not to lie, do not attribute it to yourself and be proud, as if it were your own; lest by the wind of pride, like a lamp lit from elsewhere, you be extinguished, and remain again in your lie. Therefore, do not lie, brothers. For you were old men; you have come to the grace of God, you have become new men. Lies belong to Adam; truth belongs to Christ. Therefore, putting aside lying, speak the truth, so that this mortal flesh which you still have from Adam, preceded by the newness of the spirit, may also deserve renewal and change at the time of its resurrection; and thus the entire man, deified, may adhere to the eternal and unchangeable truth.