Honour shown by a sound life
See whether we are not taught that honour toward the Son of God, and in the same way honour toward God the Father, is rendered through a sound life, both from the words “You who boast in the law dishonour God by breaking the law” (Romans 2:23), and from these: “How much worse a punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has counted as common the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29). For if the one who breaks the law dishonours God “by breaking the law” (Romans 2:23), and the one who tramples on the Word tramples underfoot “the Son of God” (Hebrews 10:29), it is plain that the one who keeps the law honours God, and the one who is adorned with the Word of God and with His works reveres God.
If Celsus had known who belong to God, namely the wise alone, and who are strangers to Him, namely all the wicked who show no inclination at all to take up virtue, he would have seen in what sense one ought to say his words: “If then one honours and reveres all who are His, how does he grieve God, to whom they all belong?”
Greek
Ὅτι δὲ ἡ πρὸς τὸν (υἱὸν τοῦ) θεοῦ τιμὴ ἐν βίῳ ὑγιεῖ γίνεται. οὕτως δὲ καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ πατέρα, ὅρα εἰ μὴ διδασκόμεθα ἔκ τε τοῦ „ὃς ἐν νόμῳ καυχᾶσαι, διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως, (τοῦ νόμου) τὸν θεὸν ἀτιμάζεις“ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ „πόσῳ δοκεῖτε χείρονος ἀξιωθήσεται τιμωρίας ὁ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καταπατήσας καὶ τὸ αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης κοινὸν ἡγησάμενος, ἐν ᾧ ἡγιάσθη, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς χάριτος ἐνυβρίσας.“ εἰ γὰρ „διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦ νόμου“ ἀτιμάζει τὸν θεὸν ὁ παραβαίνων τὸν νόμον, καὶ καταπατεῖ „τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ“ ὁ μὴ καταπατῶν τὸν λόγον· δῆλον ὅτι τιμᾷ μὲν τὸν θεὸν ὁ τηρῶν τὸν νόμον, σέβει δὲ τὸν θεὸν ὁ κεκοσμημένος τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ. εἰ δὲ ᾔδει Κέλσος, τίνες μέν εἰσι τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ὅτι μόνοι οἱ σοφοὶ, τίνες δὲ οἱ ἀλλότριοι, καὶ ὅτι πάντες οἱ φαῦλοι οἱ μηδαμῶς νεύοντες πρὸς ἀρετῆς ἀνάληψιν. εἶδεν ἂν, πῶς δεῖ (λέγειν) τὸ τιμῶν οὖν τις καὶ σέβων τοὺς ἐκείνου πάντας τί λυπεῖ τὸν θεὸν, οὗ πάντες εἰσίν;