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49Let him who has love in Christ perform the commandments of Christ. 2Who is able to explain the bond of the love of God? 3Who is sufficient to tell the greatness of its beauty? 4The height to which love lifts us is not to be expressed. 5Love unites us to God. “Love covereth a multitude of sins. Love beareth all things, is long-suffering in all things. There is nothing base, nothing haughty in love; love admits no schism, love makes no sedition, love does all things in concord. In love were all the elect of God made perfect. Without love is nothing well pleasing to God. 6In love did the Master receive us; for the sake of the love which he had towards us did Jesus Christ our Lord give his blood by the will of God for us, and his flesh for our flesh, and his soul[29] for our souls.”
50See, beloved, how great and wonderful is love, and that of its perfection there is no expression. 2Who is able to be found in it save those to whom God grants it? Let us then beg and pray of his mercy that we may be found in love, without human partisanship, free from blame. 3All the generations from Adam until this day have passed away; but those who were perfected in love by the grace of God have a place among the pious who shall be made manifest at the visitation of the Kingdom of Christ. 4For it is written, “Enter into thy chambers for a very little while, until my wrath and fury pass away, and I will remember a good day, and will raise you up out of your graves.” 5Blessed are we, beloved, if we perform the commandments of God in the concord of love, that through love our sins may be forgiven. 6For it is written “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not reckon, and in whose mouth is no guile.” 7This blessing was given to those who have been chosen by God through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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Notes
[29] Or, perhaps "life for our lives"; but there seems to be an antithesis in the Greek between σάρξ, flesh, and ψυχή, soul.