What is the use of a seed sown in the ground if it bears no fruit? In the same way, the word of God, preached and heard, will not benefit us if it does not bear fruit in our hearts, that is, if we do not try to correct our lives according to its rule. A royal decree is published so that his subjects know and execute his will. In the same way, the word of God is published so that we may correct our lives according to his rule. There is no benefit in hearing the word of God, but not living according to its rule, moreover, the word of God heard and not kept will be in increased condemnation, as will be said below.

§11. God in His holy word says to the soul of man: I am the Lord thy God, and so forth; He says to the soul: Turn away from evil and do good; believe, humble yourself, love, endure, and so on. The soul must listen to the voice of God, obey, repent, believe, love, endure, and so on. And when evil thoughts arise, do not accept them, but when good advice is felt inside, follow it.

Therefore:

1) It is of no use to appear to be in good order outwardly, but to be defective inwardly; to humble oneself in one's body, but to be proud of one's soul; On the tongue to have faith and love, but in the heart – unbelief and its fruits. All this is hypocrisy.

2) Any sin first appears in the soul, and then manifests itself externally and bodily and is committed through the body. For example, murder, theft, fornication, and so on happen in the soul. For the hand will not kill, steal; the tongue will not slander or slander; The eye will not look, the ear will not hear the indecent, the belly will not overeat, the feet will not walk to evil, if the soul does not want to. Likewise, every virtue must be in the soul, and on occasion it must be outwardly manifested and manifest its action. For example, faith must be in the soul and on occasion show itself by confession; Love must be in the soul and on occasion manifest itself through works of mercy, and so on. Whoever has true love for his neighbor will not refuse him who asks. And God, when He says to a man: "Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal," He does not speak to the hands, but to the soul, from which murder and theft proceed and are committed through the hands; In the same way, He does not say to the tongue, "Thou shalt not bear false witness," but to the soul that uses the tongue to bear false witness, and so on. That is why the Apostle calls the bodily members instruments of righteousness or instruments of unrighteousness (Romans 6:13). They are instruments of righteousness when the soul does righteousness with them; instruments of unrighteousness, when the soul uses them to create unrighteousness.

3) Not only the murderer, or the predator, or the adulterer, etc., who sins by deed, does evil, but also the one who wants to do evil. A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit, nor a bad tree bring forth good fruit, says Christ (Matt. 7:18). Therefore, in God's word, murder is attributed not only to the one who kills a person by deed, but also to the one who hates a person. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, says St. John (1 John 3:15). Likewise, fornication is called fornication by Christ. Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matt. 5:28). And although the civil court does not put evil lusts to death, the judgment of God will execute them, since they are committed against His holy and eternal law: Thou shalt not covet. God judges not only external sins, but also internal ones, at least outwardly, they did not manifest themselves before people.

§ 12. God, commanding to turn away from evil, also commands to do good: Turn away from evil and do good (Psalm 33:15); forbidding stealing, stealing, He also commands to give: "Give to him who asks of you" (Matt. 5:42).

Therefore:

1) Both to the avoidance of evil and to the creation of good, we are equally obliged.

2) From this it follows that both what is forbidden to do and what is commanded not to do is contrary to the holy law of God, and therefore is a sin. For everything that is done against the law of God is sin. Sin is lawlessness, according to the testimony of the Apostle (1 John 3:4).

Not only for evil deeds, but also for neglect of good deeds, Christ sends Him into eternal fire. Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, he will say to those who will be on the left side in the day of his judgment. And why? For I hungered, and ye gave Me not to eat, and so forth (Matt. 25:41-42). This is taught by St. Basil the Great in his discourse on the judgment of God, and by St. Chrysostom in his discourse on the 3rd chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. From this it follows that those rich sin who do not give of their possessions to the poor who ask of them; likewise, others sin, who hide the gifts of God within themselves and do not benefit their neighbors, although they could. And these gifts are the very talents for which we should give an account to our Lord on the day of His righteous judgment (Matt. 25:14-30).

§ 13. Whoever wishes to read or listen to the word of God with spiritual benefit should note the following:

1) Since it is the most precious gift of God, it should be read or listened to with reverence, eagerness and diligence. If we listen to an earthly king or a lofty man who addresses us and converses with us, with attention, zeal, and reverence, how much more should we listen to God, Who is the King of kings and the Sovereign of princes, Who in His word addresses us and converses with us. When we pray to Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23), we turn to Him and converse with Him, in the same way, when we properly read His word or listen to His servant reading Him, we hear Him conversing with us.

2) One must listen to or read the word of God, not in order to be witty or eloquent, but in order to know God and Christ the Son of God and His holy will, and thus receive eternal salvation. This is the proper purpose of reading or hearing the word of God. For since it is given to us for the salvation of our souls, we must read or listen to it for this purpose.