Second Clement: An Ancient Homily · §4 · Anonymous (2 Clement)

Confession in deeds, not words

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The preacher has just quoted Isaiah on lip-service and now urges the congregation to confess Christ through actions, not by calling him Lord alone.

So let us not merely call him Lord, for that will not save us.

He himself says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will be saved, but only the one who does righteousness."

Therefore, brothers, let us confess him in our deeds: by loving one another, by not committing adultery, by not speaking evil of one another, by not being jealous, but by being self-controlled, merciful, and good. We ought also to suffer with one another and not love money. It is by these deeds that we confess him, and not by their opposites.

And we must not fear human beings more than we fear God.

For this reason, when you do these things, the Lord said: "If you are gathered close to me in my bosom and do not keep my commandments, I will cast you away and say to you, 'Go away from me; I do not know where you come from, you workers of lawlessness.'"

Greek

Μὴ μόνον οὖν αὐτὸν καλῶμεν κύριον: οὐ γὰρ τοῦτο σώσει ἡμᾶς.

λέγει γάρ: Οὐ πᾶς ὁ λέγων μοι: Κύριε, κύριε, σωθήσεται, ἀλλ’ ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην.

ὥστε οὖν, ἀδελφοί, ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτὸν ὁμολογῶμεν, ἐν τῷ ἀγαπᾶν ἑαυτούς, ἐν τῷ μὴ μοιχᾶσθαι μηδὲ καταλαλεῖν ἀλλήλων μηδὲ ζηλοῦν, ἀλλ’ ἐγκρατεῖς εἶναι, ἐλεήμονας, ἀγαθούς: καὶ συμπάσχειν ἀλλήλοις ὀφείλομεν, καὶ μὴ φιλαργυρεῖν. ἐν τούτοις τοῖς ἔργοις ὁμολογῶμεν αὐτὸν καὶ μὴ ἐν τοῖς ἐναντίοις:

καὶ οὐ δεῖ ἡμᾶς φοβεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους μᾶλλον, ἀλλὰ τὸν θεόν.

διὰ τοῦτο, ταῦτα ὑμῶν πρασσόντων, εἶπεν ὁ κύριος: Ἐὰν ἦτε μετ’ ἐμοῦ συνηγμένοι ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ μου καὶ μὴ ποιῆτε τὰς ἐντολάς μου, ἀποβαλῶ ὑμᾶς καὶ ἐρῶ ὑμῖν: Ὑπάγετε ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ, οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς, πόθεν ἐστέ, ἐργάται ἀνομίας.

About this text

An early Christian sermon by an unknown preacher, long attached to Clement of Rome, calling a congregation to repentance, pure living, and endurance before the coming judgment.

This homily is anonymous. Although later tradition attached it to Clement of Rome, the author does not name himself, and the work is now understood to have been written by an unknown Christian preacher around the early second century. It is addressed to a congregation as 'brothers' and 'brothers and sisters,' and it survives not as a letter but as a sermon, included in some ancient biblical manuscripts and later classified among the Apostolic Fathers.

The preacher wrote to exhort a Christian community to repentance, pure living, and endurance in view of coming judgment. He calls his hearers to think of Christ as God and judge of the living and the dead, and to repay his saving mercy with confession enacted in deeds, not just words. The occasion is a direct appeal for the congregation to heed his written exhortation while there is still time to repent.

A reader will meet Jesus Christ as the main speaker, quoted through sayings introduced by 'the Lord says' or 'he said.' The preacher also quotes the apostle Peter, the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, and the words of the double-minded, the nations, the faithless at judgment, and the righteous at judgment. The homily quotes the Greek Old Testament, and Psalm numbering follows the Septuagint where it differs from modern English Bibles.

New English from the Greek base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from Kirsopp Lake, The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1 (London: William Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912) (Greek)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.