Passage Search

"Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God." See how he gathers comfort for them. He had said, We give thanks to God, he had said, We glory among men: these things indeed are honorable. But that which he most seeks for, who is in suffering, is, deliverance from evils, and vengeance upon those who are evil entreating them. For when the soul is weak, it most seeks for these things, for the philosophic soul does not even seek these things. Why then does he say, "a token of the righteous Judgment of God"? Here he has glanced at the retribution on either side, both of those who do the ill, and of those who suffer it, as if he had said, that the justice of God may be shown when He crowns you indeed, but punishes them. At the same time also he comforts them, showing that from their own labors and toils they are crowned, and according to the proportion of righteousness. But he puts their part first. For although a person even vehemently desires revenge, yet he first longs for reward. For this reason he says, "That ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer." This then does not come to pass from the circumstance that those who injure them are more powerful than they, but because it is so that they must enter into the kingdom. "For through many tribulations," he says, "we must enter into the kingdom of God."

Lastly, there is the matter of Faustus’ crafty insinuation, that the Old Testament misrepresents God as threatening to come with a sword which will spare neither the righteous nor the wicked. If the words were explained to the pagan, he would perhaps disagree neither with the Old Testament nor with the New; and he might see the beauty of the parable in the Gospel, which people who pretend to be Christians either misunderstand from their blindness or reject from their perversity. The vine’s great farmer uses his pruning hook differently on the fruitful and in the unfruitful branches. Yet he spares neither good nor bad, pruning one and cutting off the other. No one is so just that he does not need to be tried by affliction to advance or to establish or prove his virtue. Do the Manichaeans not reckon Paul as righteous, who, while confessing humbly and honestly his past sins, still gives thanks for being justified by faith in Jesus Christ? Was Paul himself then spared of suffering by God whom fools misunderstand? He says, “I will spare neither the righteous nor the sinner.” Hear the apostle himself, “Lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelation, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me. For this I asked the Lord three times, that he would remove it from me; and he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for strength is perfected in weakness.” … Paul also, besides recording his own experience, says that the afflictions and persecutions of the righteous exhibit the judgment of God.

He calls the judgment of God "just" because then God will judge the world equally.

so that you may be held worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer The persecutions and tribulation did not make them worthy, but rather the grace of God that bestows to them the power of enduring those things patiently.

Already by what was said above he comforted the Thessalonians, namely by the fact that he said: we give thanks and we boast; but now he gives that which the sufferer seeks most of all, that is, deliverance from afflictions and punishment of those who caused them evil. Thus, here is what the words of the apostle mean: endure afflictions as proof that the righteous judgment of God will deem you worthy of the Kingdom. For if He crowns you who are persecuted and punishes those others, then His righteousness is revealed in this. He provides them great comfort, showing that they will be crowned not only by grace but by justice, receiving the Kingdom as a recompense for their own labors and toils. Thus, it is not because the persecutors are stronger that they have power over you, but because the Kingdom of Heaven is acquired through suffering. And this exchange must necessarily take place in precisely this way and not without labor. Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God, says the Lord.

And the saints endure these tribulations for the sake of two things. One is to strike fear into the wicked: for if God does not spare the good in this world, how will he spare the wicked in the next? "And if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not believe in the Gospel of God" (1 Pet 4:17). "Behold, those who were not condemned to drink the cup shall drink it, and shall you escape as though innocent?" (Jer 49:12). The second is to increase merit. Hence he says "that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God." For as it is said: "the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent bear it away" (Matt 11:12). And: "was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things, and so enter into his glory?" (Luke 24:26). "But if we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified with him" (Rom 8:17). Hence he says, "for which also you suffer." For tribulation born for God's sake makes one worthy of the kingdom of God. "Blessed are they who suffer persecution" (Matt 5:10). "Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a slanderer, or a coveter of others' goods" (1 Pet 4:15).