Psalms 49:21

Now that is in our power, of which equally with its opposite we are masters, as, say to philosophize or not, to believe or disbelieve. In consequence, then, of our being equally masters of each of the opposites, what depends on us is found possible. Now the commandments may be done or not done by us, who, as is reasonable, are liable to praise and blame. And those, again, who are punished on account of sins committed by them, are punished for them alone; for what is done is past, and what is done can never be undone. The sins committed before faith are accordingly forgiven by the Lord, not that they may be undone, but as if they had not been done. “But not all,” says Basilides, “but only sins involuntary and in ignorance, are forgiven;” as would be the case were it a man, and not God, that conferred such a boon. …

Conformably, therefore, there are various abodes, according to the worth of those who have believed. To the point Solomon says, “For there shall be given to him the choice grace of faith, and a more pleasant lot in the temple of the Lord.” For the comparative shows that there are lower parts in the temple of God, which is the whole Church. And the superlative remains to be conceived, where the Lord is. These chosen abodes, which are three, are indicated by the numbers in the Gospel, the thirty, the sixty, the hundred. And the perfect inheritance belongs to those who attain to “a perfect man,” according to the image of the Lord. And the likeness is not, as some imagine, that of the human form; for this consideration is impious. Nor is the likeness to the first cause that which consists in virtue. …

23. “This Thou hast seen, O Lord; keep not silence” ( ver. 22 ). What is, “keep not silence”? Judge Thou. For of judgment is it said in a certain place, “I have kept silence; shall I keep silence for ever?” And of the delaying of judgment it is said to the sinner, “These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;” “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself.” How keepeth He silence, who speaketh by the Prophets, who speaketh with His own mouth in the Gospel, who speaketh by the Evangelists, who speaketh by us, when we speak the truth? What then? He keepeth silence from judgment, not from precept, not from doctrine. But this His judgment the Prophet in a manner invoketh, and predicteth: “Thou hast seen, O Lord: keep not silence;” that is, Thou wilt not keep silence, needs must that Thou wilt judge. …

28. “These things hast thou done, and I held my tongue” ( ver. 21 ). Therefore the Lord our God shall come, and shall not keep silence. Now, “These things hast thou done, and I held my tongue.” What is, “I held my tongue”? From vengeance I have desisted, my severity I have deferred, patience to thee I have prolonged, thy repentance I have long looked for…“Thou hast imagined iniquity, that I shall be like unto thee;” Thou hast imagined that I shall be like unto thee, while thou wilt not be like unto Me. For, “Be ye,” he saith, “perfect, even as your Father, which is in the heavens, who maketh His sun to rise on the good and evil.” Him thou wouldest not copy, who giveth good things even to evil men, insomuch that sitting thou dost detract even from good men. …

8. “Be not therefore lifted up: speak not iniquity against God” ( ver. 5 ).…What saith He in another Psalm? “These things thou hast done,” having enumerated certain sins. “These things thou hast done,” He saith, “and was silent.” What is, “I was silent”? He is never silent with commandment, but meanwhile He is silent with punishment: He is keeping still from vengeance, He doth not pronounce sentence against the condemned. But this man saith thus, I have done such and such things, and God hath not taken vengeance; behold I am whole, nought of ill hath befallen me. “These things thou hast done, and I was silent: thou hast suspected iniquity, that I shall be like unto thee.” What is, “that I shall be like unto thee”? Because thou art unjust, even Me thou hast deemed unjust; as though an approver of thy misdeeds, and no adversary, no avenger thereof. …

“Be not deceived.” Here he glances at certain who maintain (what indeed most men assert now) that God being good and kind to man, takes not vengeance upon our misdeeds: “Let us not then be afraid.” For never will he exact justice of any one for any thing. And it is on account of these that he says, “Be not deceived.” For it belongs to the extreme of error and delusion, after depending on good to meet with the contrary; and to surmise such things about God as even in man no one would think of. Wherefore saith the Prophet in His person, ( Ps. xlix. LXX. 1. Heb. ver. …

[3.] Let us then use every means to wipe off the filthiness. But first the font cleanseth, afterwards other ways also, many and of all kinds. For God, being merciful, hath even after this given to us various ways of reconciliation, of all which the first is that by alms-doing. “By alms-deeds,” it saith, “and deeds of faith sins are cleansed away.” ( Ecclus. iii. 30 .) By alms-doing I do not mean that which is maintained by injustice, for this is not alms-doing, but savageness and inhumanity. What profits it to strip one man and clothe another? For we ought to begin the action with mercy, but this is inhumanity. If we give away everything that we have got from other people, it is no gain to us. And this Zacchæus shows, who on that occasion said, that he propitiated God by giving four times as much as he had taken. ( Luke xix. …

14. Beware also of a blabbing tongue and of itching ears. Neither detract from others nor listen to detractors. “Thou sittest,” says the psalmist, “and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son. These things hast thou done and I kept silence; thou thoughtest wickedly that I was such an one as thyself, but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes.” Keep your tongue from cavilling and watch over your words. Know that in judging others you are passing sentence on yourself and that you are yourself guilty of the faults which you blame in them. It is no excuse to say: “if others tell me things I cannot be rude to them.” No one cares to speak to an unwilling listener. An arrow never lodges in a stone: often it recoils upon the shooter of it. Let the detractor learn from your unwillingness to listen not to be so ready to detract. …

1. We preach not one advent only of Christ, but a second also, far more glorious than the former. For the former gave a view of His patience; but the latter brings with it the crown of a divine kingdom. For all things, for the most part, are twofold in our Lord Jesus Christ: a twofold generation; one, of God, before the ages; and one, of a Virgin, at the close of the ages: His descents twofold; one, the unobserved, like rain on a fleece ; and a second His open coming, which is to be. In His former advent, He was wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger; in His second, He covereth Himself with light as with a garment . In His first coming, He endured the Cross, despising shame ; in His second, He comes attended by a host of Angels, receiving glory. We rest not then upon His first advent only, but look also for His second. …

8. What shall we do in the day of visitation, with which one of the Prophets terrifies me, whether that of the righteous sentence of God against us, or that upon the mountains and hills, of which we have heard, or whatever and whenever it may be, when He will reason with us, and oppose us, and set before us those bitter accusers, our sins, comparing our wrongdoings with our benefits, and striking thought with thought, and scrutinising action with action, and calling us to account for the image which has been blurred and spoilt by wickedness, till at last He leads us away self-convicted and self-condemned, no longer able to say that we are being unjustly treated, a thought which is able even here sometimes to console in their condemnation those who are suffering.

35. Why do we reject like words when we assert the oneness of power, since the oneness of power extends so far that the Spirit rebukes, as the Father rebukes, and as the Son rebukes. For so it is written: “O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger, neither chasten me in Thy displeasure.” Then in the forty-ninth [fiftieth] Psalm, the Lord speaks thus: “I will rebuke thee, and will set thy sins before thy face.” And in like manner the Son said of the Holy Spirit: “When I go away, I will send the Paraclete to you. And He, when He is come, will rebuke the world, concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment.”