First Christian Voices: Practices of the Apostolic Fathers

Chapter 3: God the Son

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things in harmony. By love have all the elect of God been made complete. Without love nothing is pleasing to God. In love has the Lord taken us to Himself. On account of the love He had for us, Jesus Christ our Lord gave His blood for us by the will of God; His flesh for our flesh, and His soul for our souls. I gnatius to the E phesians 18 : Let my spirit be counted as nothing for the sake of the cross, which is a stumbling block to those who do not believe, but salvation and eternal life to us. “Where is the one who is wise? . . . Where the debater?” (1 Cor 1:20). Where is the boasting of those claiming to be intelligent? For our God, Jesus Christ, was conceived in the womb by Mary according to the plan of God, both from the seed of David and the Holy Spirit. He was born and baptized that by His suffering He might purify the water. B arnabas 5–6 a : For the Lord endured until the end in order to deliver up His flesh to corruption so that we might be sanctified through the remission of sins by the sprinkling of His blood. Partly with reference to Israel, and partly to us, it is written concerning Him, “He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities . . . with his stripes we are healed. . . . Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent” (Isa 53:5, 7). Therefore, we should be deeply grateful to the Lord because He has both made known to us things that are past and has given us wisdom concerning things present. He has not left us without understanding in regard to things which are to come. Now, the Scripture says, “In vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird” (Prov 1:17). This means that a person