Clement of Alexandria — Stromata 13

He never remembers those who have sinned against him, but forgives them. Wherefore also he righteously prays , saying, Forgive us; for we also forgive. Matthew 6:12 ; Luke 11:4 For this also is one of the things which God wishes, to covet nothing, to hate no one. For all men are the work of one will. And is it not the Saviour , who wishes the Gnostic to be perfect as the heavenly Father, Matthew 5:48 that is, Himself, who says, Come, you children, hear from me the fear of the Lord? He wishes him no longer to stand in need of help by angels , but to receive it from Himself, having become worthy, and to have protection from Himself by obedience . Such an one demands from the Lord, and does not merely ask.

And in the case of his brethren in want, the Gnostic will not ask himself for abundance of wealth to bestow, but will pray that the supply of what they need may be furnished to them. For so the Gnostic gives his prayer to those who are in need, and by his prayer they are supplied, without his knowledge , and without vanity. Penury and disease, and such trials, are often sent for admonition, for the correction of the past, and for care for the future. Such an one prays for relief from them, in virtue of possessing the prerogative of knowledge , not out of vainglory; but from the very fact of his being a Gnostic , he works beneficence, having become the instrument of the goodness of God . They say in the traditions that Matthew the apostle constantly said, that if the neighbour of an elect man sin , the elect man has sinned .

For had he conducted himself as the Word prescribes, his neighbour also would have been filled with such reverence for the life he led as not to sin . What, then, shall we say of the Gnostic himself? Do you not know , says the apostle, that you are the temple of God? 1 Corinthians 3:16 The Gnostic is consequently divine, and already holy , God-bearing, and God-borne. Now the Scripture , showing that sinning is foreign to him, sells those who have fallen away to strangers, saying, Look not on a strange woman , to lust , plainly pronounces sin foreign and contrary to the nature of the temple of God . Now the temple is great, as the Church , and it is small, as the man who preserves the seed of Abraham . He, therefore, who has God resting in him will not desire anything else.

At once leaving all hindrances, and despising all matter which distracts him, he cleaves the heaven by knowledge . And passing through the spiritual Essences, and all rule and authority, he touches the highest thrones, hasting to that alone for the sake of which alone he knew . Mixing, then, the serpent with the dove, Matthew 10:16 he lives at once perfectly and with a good conscience , mingling faith with hope, in order to the expectation of the future. For he is conscious of the boon he has received, having become worthy of obtaining it; and is translated from slavery to adoption, as the consequence of knowledge ; knowing God , or rather known of Him, for the end, he puts forth energies corresponding to the worth of grace . For works follow knowledge , as the shadow the body.