Chapter 5: Holiness, a Joint Project. Being of noble character, the one who is intimate with God gives himself to meditation, and he retains in his soul the permanent energy of the very thing he meditates about. He possesses the most precious thing of all: keen perception of the divine. He strives to his utmost to acquire this power by controlling all outside influences that attack his mind. He ponders and meditates without ceasing. He disciplines himself to do without pleasures.
He conducts himself righteously in whatever he does. He can speak wisely and freely without hiding the things that need to be said at the proper time. He can do this because he has experience, not only in study but in living the Christian life. He has the power of plain speech rather than the power of a babbling tongue. He knows of the things of God from the mystic choir of truth itself. Therefore, he is able to promote the greatness of righteousness in a way that is worthy.
The inspired elevation of his prayer life demonstrates his true righteousness. The person who is intimate with God is always mild and meek, accessible, pleasant, long-suffering, and grateful. He always holds a good conscience. Such a man is strict with himself not merely to avoid corruption but to avoid temptation, for he never puts his soul at risk of being conquered by either pleasure or pain. When the Logos, who is the judge, calls, he is ready.
Being uncompromising in spirit, not indulging the flesh at all, he is able to walk unswervingly where justice directs him to go, for he is persuaded that all things are being well managed by God. He believes that all souls who have chosen righteousness will progress in their growth until they come to the ultimate good itself, to the entryway of the Father's house, close to the great high priest.
This is the one who is intimate with God, the one who is sure that the affairs of the universe are managed in the best possible way. He is pleased with everything that happens. He knows that God, who knows everything, gives the righteous everything they need even though they do not ask. In my opinion, God supplies all things to a man of art according to the rules of art. For example, to the unbelieving Gentile, he supplies in a way that benefits the Gentile.
Likewise, he bestows to the one who is intimate with him in a way that befits such a person. For example, a man who merely leaves the unbelievers will ask for faith, but a person who ascends to the heights of knowing God will ask for the perfection of love. And the one who is intimate with God, who has reached the summit, prays differently than the common man. The common man prays for continual good health, but the one who is intimate with God prays that his contemplation of God will grow and abide.
The one who is intimate with God will pray that he will never fall from righteousness, and he gives his most strenuous cooperation in order to never fall, for he knows that some of the angels were hurled to the earth through their own carelessness. Those angels had not yet reached the state of oneness with God. They never freed themselves from the natural inclination towards being double-minded.
All things relating to time and place help the one who has trained himself to the summit of knowledge and has raised himself to the height of the perfect man. He has made it his choice to live without transgressing. He disciplines himself in order to attain the stability of knowledge on all sides. Yet if part of him is still weighed down by the flesh, it will drag down the part of him that has been elevated by faith. Therefore, the person who is intimate with God acquires a moral excellence that cannot be lost.
So godly habits become part of his nature. And just as a stone can never lose its weight, so such a person can never lose his knowledge of God. His moral excellence reaches this point of never being able to be lost through four things: intimacy, the exercise of his will, the force of reason, and the power of God. It's only through this care that moral excellence becomes incapable of being lost. So the one who is intimate with God will be cautious in order to avoid sinning.
He will use his faculties to avoid losing this righteousness. Knowledge produces contemplation by teaching a person to recognize the things that contribute to the permanence of righteousness. The highest thing is knowing God intimately. John 17:3. This knowledge preserves righteousness in such a way as to make it incapable of being lost. And he who knows God is holy and righteous. In fact, the only righteous person is the one who is intimate with God.
The one who is intimate with God rejoices in good things that are present, and he is joyful about those things that are promised, for he views such future things as though they were already present. So the promised things don't escape his notice as though they were still absent. He foreknows what kind of things they are. Because of his knowledge of God, he knows what each future thing will be like. So in a sense, he already possesses those things.
As far as possible, our man who knows God intimately possesses all godly qualities, but he doesn't necessarily possess them to the same degree as someone else might. Otherwise, there would be no room for advancement. Empowerment from God. God gives closer supervision to those who know him, and in this way, he honors them. After all, weren't all things made for the sake of good men? Aren't all things for them to possess and enjoy, or rather to assist in their salvation?
Therefore, God would not deprive such persons for whom all things were created, of the things that exist for the sake of righteousness. God infuses those who have chosen the good life with strength for the rest of their salvation. He does this in honor of their holy choice and their excellent nature. The one who is intimate with God can have every kind of goodness produced in him just as long as it is his goal to know and do everything with understanding.
A physician can help a person become and remain healthy only if that person cooperates with the physician in his recuperation. Likewise, God gives eternal salvation to those who work jointly with him in the attainment of intimacy and right conduct. We have the power to avoid the things the commandments forbid, and also we have the power to do the things that God commands. There is a good illustration from Greek history.
After working and training hard for a long time, a famous athlete was journeying to the Olympic Games. On the way, he passed a statue of Zeus and looked up at it. "Oh Zeus," he prayed, "if I have prepared perfectly for this contest, then please give me the victory, as it is only fair." It's the same for the one who is intimate with God. If he has blamelessly and with good conscience done all that he can do, all things will work to carry his salvation on to completion.
In other words, God expects us to do the things that are in our power to do. He will do the rest. Therefore, a person who wants to converse with God must have his soul immaculate and pure, without stain. It's essential for him to make himself perfectly good, but it's best for this person to make his prayers gently with those who are good, for it's dangerous to take part in the sins of others.
Therefore, the one who is intimate with God will pray with a person who has recently become a believer about the things that the two of them have duty to act on together. Actually, his whole life is a holy festival. His sacrifices consist of many things: prayers, praises, and scripture readings before meals, psalms and hymns during meals and before bed, and prayers again during the night. By these sacrifices, he joins himself to the divine choir, for he continually ponders over these things.
The one who is intimate with God offers the other kind of sacrifice as well. I mean the one that consists of giving instruction and money to those who are in need. But he doesn't spout forth long, wordy prayers with his mouth. Rather, he has learned to simply ask the Lord for the things that are necessary. Matthew 6:11. He prays everywhere, but not in a showy way for everyone to see. Matthew 6:5-6. He prays at every opportunity: while walking, while talking, while silent, while reading, or while working.
He can communicate with God simply by forming a thought in the most secret part of his soul, calling on the Father with unspoken groanings. For the Father is at his side even while he is still speaking. Since there are only three goals of any action, the one who is intimate with God concentrates on the goals of excellence and usefulness. He does nothing toward the goal of pleasure, leaving that for people who pursue the common life.