Saint Paul says in today’s Epistle: «I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received.» It is a self-evident truth that no one can give what he himself does not have. And it should be equally self-evident that no one can possess anything that he has not first received.

This means more than simply admitting, honestly and humbly, that we brought nothing into this world and that everything we have has been given to us. What matters is that, once we understand that everything we have is a gift, we become able to distinguish between what is truly important and what is not.

Saint Paul says in today’s Epistle that “no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” This means that faith is a gift from God. Some, however, draw the wrong conclusion from this, as though God had predestined only certain people to salvation—those to whom He chooses to give the gift of faith—while predestining all others to damnation by withholding that gift from them.

In today’s Epistle, Saint Paul shows us how the Bible ought to be read: not merely as a collection of spoken and written words, but in such a way that we encounter there the eternal Word of God, His only begotten Son, through whom we were created, in whom we are redeemed, and by whom we are called to eternal life.

Our Lord says: «Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.» We do the will of God when we live as He intended us to live when He created us: in purity, righteousness, holiness, and self-giving love. But this is possible only when God Himself cleanses us, justifies us, sanctifies us, and fills us with His perfect love.

When we say that “the wages of sin is death,” these words may be understood in two ways. The first is probably the more common: sin must be followed by punishment, and death is the wage paid to the sinner for his unrighteous deeds. But there is another way of understanding these words: the wages of sin—death—is not merely a punishment imposed for committing sin; it is also the natural consequence of sin itself. Death is the wage that sin pays to the one who has become its slave.