28. And to return to the praise of martyrdom, there is a word of the blessed Paul, who says:  “Know ye not that they who run in a race strive many, but one receiveth the prize? But do ye so run, that all of you may obtain.”25    1 Cor. ix. 24.  Moreover also elsewhere, that he may exhort us to martyrdom, he has called us fellow-heirs with Christ; nay, that he might omit nothing, he says, “If ye are dead with Christ, why, as if living in the world, do ye make distinctions?”26    Col. ii. 20; “decernitis.” Because, dearest brethren, we who bear the rewards of resurrection, who seek for the day of judgment, who, in fine, are trusting that we shall reign with Christ, ought to be dead to the world. For you can neither desire martyrdom till you have first hated the world, nor attain to God’s reward unless you have loved Christ. And he who loves Christ does not love the world. For Christ was given up by the world, even as the world also was given up by Christ; as it is written, “The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”27    Gal. vi. 14. [Compare Ep. xxv. p. 303, supra.] The world has been an object of affection to none whom the Lord has not previously condemned; nor could he enjoy eternal salvation who has gloried in the life of the world. That is the very voice of Christ, who says:  “He that loveth his life in this world, shall lose it in the world to come; but he that hateth his life in this world, shall find it in the world to come.”28    Matt. x. 39. Moreover, also, the Apostle Paul says: “Be ye imitators of me, as I also am of Christ.”29    1 Cor. vi. 4.  And the same elsewhere says: “I wish that all of you, if it were possible, should be imitators of me.”30    1 Cor. vii. 7.

XXVIII. Atque ut ad laudem martyrii redeam, vox est beatissimi Pauli dicentis: Nescitis quoniam qui in agone currunt, multi certant, unus autem accipit palmam? Vos autem sic currite ut omnes comprehendatis (I Cor. IX, 24). Sed et alibi, quod ad martyrium possit hortari, cohaeredes nos Christi vocavit. Quin etiam, ne quid omitteret, Si cum Christo, inquit, commortui estis, quid tamquam viventes in hoc saeculo decernitis 0801D (Coloss. II, 20)? Etenim, charissimi fratres, qui resurrectionis praemia sustinemus, qui judicii diem quaerimus, qui denique regnaturos nos esse cum Christo confidimus, saeculo mortui esse debemus. Nam nec poteris optare martyrium, nisi ante oderis saeculum, nec pervenire ad Dei praemium, nisi amaveris Christum. Qui autem amat Christum, non amat saeculum. Christus enim abjectus est saeculo, sicut 0802A et saeculum Christo, ut scriptum est: Mundus mihi crucifixus est, et ego mundo (Gal. VI, 14). Nemini amabilis fuit mundus quem non ante damnaverit Dominus, nec salute potuit frui aeterna qui mundi gloriatus est vita. Vox est ista Christi dicentis: Qui in hoc saeculo amaverit animam suam, in futuro perdet illam; qui autem in hoc saeculo oderit illam, in futuro inveniet eam (Matth. X, 39). Sed et apostolus Paulus: Imitatores, inquit, mei estote, sicut et ego Christi (I Cor. VI, 1). Et alibi ipse: Volo vos omnes, ait, si fieri potest, imitatores meos esse (I Cor. VII, 7).