Art. 26 and 27. ... Thus I struggle, not as the air beats: but I mortify my body and enslave it, so that I may not preach to others, but I myself will not be included.

Help me also, God-wise Apostle, to strive as you do: to enslave my body to my soul.

Hl. 11, verses 5-6 [20]. At the present time there is a remnant (of the Jews) by the election of grace. If it be by grace, it is not by works: for grace is no more grace. If there is no grace from works, then the work is no longer the work.

Thus, if I am saved by the grace of God, it is not by my works, for if I were saved for my works, it would no longer be by grace. By grace you are saved through faith: and this is not of you, but the gift of God: Not of works, let no man boast (Ephesians 2:5). "And so, let faith instead of works be imputed to me, O my God!" But also grant me the strength to please Thee with good works. All that is good is from Thee: I have nothing of my own but sin.

Hl. 15, verses 13-23. The truth of Christ's resurrection is in the closest connection with the truth of our future resurrection at the end of the world, so that if the resurrection of the dead is to be brought, then Christ is not risen (and who is so little faith as to assert that Christ has not risen?), and vice versa — if Christ rose from the dead, then the resurrection of the dead is also certain. Why, then, is the resurrection of the Lord an undoubted pledge of our resurrection from the dead? Because, having risen from the dead, He became the firstfruits of the dead, or the beginning of the resurrection of people from the dead; for as death was by man, so was the resurrection of the dead by man (the Lord). For as in Adam they die, so also in Christ they shall be made alive... Christ was the firstborn, and afterwards they believed in Christ in His coming.

Art. 25 and 26. It behooves Him to reign, until He subdues all enemies under His feet. And the last enemy will be abolished by death. "Thy destinies, O Lord, I will speak with the Psalmist, the deep is many" (Psalm 35:7).

Do You, Almighty King of the World, have enemies with whom You must fight and subdue them? Could Thou not have long ago destroyed these by a single wave of Thy will? What am I saying? Could Thou not have given them existence at all, since Thou didst foresee their wickedness from eternity? Thus, all things are possible for Thee: nothing is possible for Thee. But Thou didst not wish to leave them in insignificance, precisely because in the course of time they would use their being, their powers, for evil. Thou art so good that Thou didst desire that they also should enjoy the sweetness of their existence, Thy contemplation and contemplation of Thy beautiful creatures. The demons were created by bright angels, and Lucifer, their leader, was the spirit closest to God. Though not for long, they also tasted the sweetness and life-giving nature of blessed communion with God; and they tasted, for the Lord is good (Psalm 33:9). If they have become enemies of God, it is their own fault: they did not want to remain in their rank and left their subordination. Why did they not, with their bright minds, restrain the lawless impulses of their strong will? "And among our people, Judas was a person close to the God-man. But he also fell from the evil arbitrariness of his will. And so, O my God, Thou didst not have given them existence at all, but in Thy goodness Thou didst not want their wickedness to surpass Thy goodness. Let them also know, and by their very fall preach louder than any trumpet, that Thou art good, and that they are ungrateful, impudent creatures; let them know that if you have not yet completely subdued them under your feet, although you can do it in an instant, you have not done it solely out of your goodness, and endure them to the end; let the very length of the postponement of their punishment be their retribution. The last enemy, that is, the human enemy, will be abolished by death. In the creation of the Living God, there should not have been death, but sin introduced it. Therefore, when sin is destroyed with the coming of the Lord, death will be destroyed at the same time.

If you want to prove in the clearest way the truth of our resurrection from the dead and the image of the resurrection, read the 15th chapter of the 1st Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, verse 50: ... Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, but corruption inherits incorruption. The Kingdom of God is completely different from the earthly kingdom of man. As God is Spirit, so His kingdom is completely spiritual and the subjects of this kingdom are also spiritual beings. Flesh and blood, in general, everything perishable cannot have a place in this kingdom.

Art. 53. It behooves this corruptible to put on incorruption, and to this dead man to put on immortality.

My god! What a wondrous transformation Thou hast prepared for our bodies. My body will turn from perishable and transitory into incorruptible and eternal, from mortal and indestructible into immortal and never, forever and ever, indestructible by anything. So, I, the earth and the ashes, have eternal existence ahead of me? Thus, it is eternal, but it can be twofold: blissful or painful. God! Save me, Thy unworthy servant, by their destinies!

2nd Epistle to the Corinthians of the Holy Apostle Paul

Hl. 1, verses 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions, that we may be able to comfort those who are in every affliction with consolation, by whom we ourselves are comforted by God.

God's consolation to the apostles in every sorrow was so great, so abundantly poured out into their hearts, that they were able to console others in any sorrow, no matter how great it might be, with the same joyful and all-joyous truths that were communicated to them from God. Who at the present time possesses such an ability to comfort others, I do not say, in all sorrows (for now in other sorrows the sorrowful will not even listen to the Comforter), but even in some sorrows that are not quite strong? Who possesses such a fullness of Divine consolation as to be overflowing in its abundance in the consolation of others? Very few, and few precisely because rarely does one of the comforters himself possess the gift of Divine consolation; and in order to possess it, one must earn it from God.

Hl. 4, Articles 17 and 18. ... Now the lightness of our sorrows, as it multiplies the burden of eternal glory, makes us, who do not look at what is visible to us, but what is not seen: for what is visible is temporary, but what is invisible is eternal.