Irenaeus of Lyons · a new plain-English translation from the original language
Since, then, the Apostle demonstrates, without hesitation or inconsistency, that a single, identical God both judged the men of former times and now scrutinizes those presently living, and shows why their deeds were set down in writing, it is only the ignorant, the reckless, and indeed the thoughtless, who are found — because of the wrongdoing of those who lived long ago, and the disobedience of many — asserting that one deity belonged to those men, one who is a lesser maker of the world, while a different Father was given to us by Christ, this second one being merely an invention conjured up privately by each of them; failing to grasp that just as, in the earlier instance, God found no pleasure in most of those who sinned, so likewise here many are summoned but few are picked out; and just as there the unjust, the idol-worshippers, and the sexually immoral forfeited their lives, so also here — the Lord himself declaring that such people are thrown into unending fire, and the Apostle stating: "Or do you not realize that wrongdoers will have no share in God's kingdom? Do not be misled: fornicators will not, nor idol-worshippers, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor men who lie with men, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers — none of these shall possess God's kingdom." For he says this not about outsiders, but about us: "and such were some among you; but you have been cleansed, you have been made holy through the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."
And just as in that former time those who did evil were condemned and cast out, and destroyed the rest, so also here the eye that causes offense is plucked out, and likewise the foot and the hand, lest the whole body perish along with them. And we possess this instruction: "If someone called a brother is sexually immoral, or greedy, or worships idols, or is a slanderer, or a drunk, or a swindler, do not so much as share a meal with that person." And elsewhere the Apostle states: "Let no one lead you astray with hollow arguments, for it is on account of these very things that God's wrath falls upon the disobedient. Do not, then, join yourselves with them." And just as there the sentence against sinners was carried out before everyone else, so too here "a small amount of yeast works through the whole batch of dough." And just as there the wrath of God broke out against the unjust, so likewise here the Apostle declares: "For God's wrath is disclosed from heaven upon every kind of godlessness and injustice among men who suppress the truth by their injustice." And just as there God took vengeance upon the Egyptians for their unjust treatment of Israel, so also here, the Lord himself says: "Will God not bring justice for his chosen ones, who call out to him night and day? I tell you, he will bring it about for them without delay"; and the Apostle, writing to the Thessalonians, proclaims the very same thing: "since it is only just for God to repay affliction to those who afflict you, and to give rest to you, the afflicted, along with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed coming down from heaven with his powerful messengers, in blazing fire, dealing out punishment to those who do not acknowledge God and who refuse to obey the good news concerning our Lord Jesus — these will suffer the penalty of everlasting ruin, banished from before the Lord's face and from his mighty splendor, on the day he comes to be honored among his holy ones and admired by all who have put their faith in him."