What is the appropriate conduct of the repentant believer?

Paul the Apostle presents five principles of appropriate conduct that suits the children of God who have repented:

First: Walk in Christ. “As you, therefore, have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (2 Cor. 2:6). Whoever accepts Christ the Lord, walks in Him, who is the divine Way

1458 St. Basil of Caesarea, The Rule of St. Basil in Latin and English: A Revised Critical Edition , trans., Anna M. Silvas (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2013) Q. 22.1–6: p. 129–131.

and thus is able to traverse the world in his heart and mind, to the Father’s bosom, and thus he settles his hope on the resurrection of the flesh and the constant presence in eternal glory. St. John Chrysostom says, “Walk in Him, for He is the way that leads to the Father, and not the Angels, for they are incapable of bringing us to Him.”¹⁴⁵⁹

Second: Walk in the Holy Spirit. “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). St. Anthony the Great says, “(The Holy Spirit) urges (the believer) to continuously struggle in the body and the soul, to be equally sanctified, and equally worthy of inheriting eternal life.” He also says, “In this way the whole body is accustomed to goodness, submitting to the power of the Holy Spirit and so it is gradually transformed until at the end, it partakes to a certain degree in the characteristics of the holy body which we receive in the resurrection of the righteous.”¹⁴⁶⁰

Third: Walk in love. “Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Eph. 5:2). A Christian partakes in Christ’s priesthood (the general priesthood), by offering his life as a sacrifice of love for others, like his Master. This is the characteristic of the “new man” who replaces the “old man.” St. Augustine says, “Now he who dwells in love dwells in God, for ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:16)”¹⁴⁶¹ and, “You are called a child: if you refuse to imitate Him, why do you seek His inheritance?”¹⁴⁶²

Fourth: Walk as children of light. “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). Through love, we resemble God, partaking in His nature and are counted as children of light. Thus, there will not be any room for death within us, but we enjoy the light of the resurrection. Through this concept, the Apostle advises us to walk as children of light, enjoying the power of the resurrection and its joy within us, proclaimed in our daily life in our seen and unseen actions, leaving behind us all the inappropriate works of darkness. St. Augustine says, “For when you were darkness, you were not in the Lord. Again, when you are light, you are light not in yourselves, but in the Lord.”¹⁴⁶³

Fifth: Walk in wisdom, redeeming the time. “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time” (Col. 4:4). St. Paul the Apostle asks us to walk wisely and carefully, among others, to win them to the kingdom of God. Through our actions, we witness to our Christ and direct the hearts of many to the cross so that they may enjoy the power of God’s salvation and that the gates of salvation may be opened before them. Every moment

1459 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Colossians (NPNF I/13:284) amended.

1460 St. Anthony the Great, Epistle 1, Philokalia 16, 17, 20.

1461 St. Augustine of Hippo, Letters, Volume III (131–164) 148.5 (FOTC 20:228). 1462

St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 64.3 (NPNF I/6:453) amended.

1463 St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 17.5 (NPNF I/6:311–312) amended.

in our lives is valuable and could be a reason for blessing or bitterness and death, thus he says, “redeeming the time.”