is promised to those who have consecrated themselves. For those who consider it impossible for this accomplishment to happen in men through the Spirit, which is truly the new creation of a pure heart, the apostle clearly shows in the epistle to the Hebrews that they are like those who through unbelief were not counted worthy to enter the land of promise, for which reason their limbs fell in the wilderness. For what there was the land of promise and the visible cleansing of seven nations, this here is the inward redemption from passions and love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith, which the apostle showed to be the end of every commandment; which is the truly real land of promise, for which all those things through Moses are shown as types. for even if we have not attained the highest measures of Christianity because of our slackness or negligence, yet as grateful servants we must confess and proclaim the immeasurable goodness of God to men through the words promised by the Spirit, and consider true and sure and faithful the things promised to those who have given themselves wholly to God; 299 so that even if, through sloth of will or weakness, having consecrated ourselves entirely to God we may happen to fall far short of the great and perfect measures of Christianity, we may yet be able to obtain some mercy through faith in right thinking, and not be found outside of eternal life as opponents of the teachings of the Spirit and disobedient. For the blessed Paul, strengthening and securing his disciples, lest any of them be found in such a mindset, says: Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in falling away from the living God; and falling away he did not identify as denying the name, but showed it to be disbelieving his promises, wherefore, allegorizing the types of the Jews into the truth of the Christians and showing their disobedience for our security, he adds, saying: For some, when they had heard, provoked, yet not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient? And we see that they did not enter because of unbelief. And he adds: See to it that, while a promise remains of entering his rest, any of you should seem to have come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, since it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we which have believed do enter into rest. For the rest of true Christians is the redemption from the passions of sin and the most full 300 and active indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a pure heart. Therefore, proceeding, he adds: Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest; that is, striving in all the virtues of the commandments, believing to be counted perfectly worthy of the sanctification of the Spirit; and Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Therefore encouraging and rekindling their wills to faith, he says: Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need, and again: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled, that is, cleansed from an evil conscience, and again: How much more shall the blood of Jesus cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living and true God; and if you were to collect the other testimonies from the holy scriptures, you would find very many spoken to this purpose. It has therefore been abundantly demonstrated from all these things to those who are well-disposed to the words of the

ἀφιερώσασιν ἐπαγγέλλεται. Τοὺς γὰρ ἀδύνατον ἡγουμένους τὴν κατόρθωσιν ταύτην διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐν ἀνθρώποις γίνεσθαι, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡ ὄντως καινὴ κτίσις τῆς καθαρᾶς καρδίας, διαρρήδην ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑβραίους ἐπιστολῇ ὁ ἀπόστολος ἀποδείκνυσιν ὁμοίους εἶναι τοῖς διὰ ἀπιστίαν εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας εἰσελθεῖν μὴ καταξιωθεῖσι, διὰ τοῦτο τῶν κώλων αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ πεπτωκότων· ὅπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖ ἐπαγγελίας γῆ καὶ ἑπτὰ ἐθνῶν καθαίρεσις εἰς τὸ προφανές, τοῦτο ἐνταῦθα παθῶν ἀπολύτρωσις καὶ ἀγάπη ἐκ καθαρᾶς καρδίας καὶ συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς καὶ πίστεως ἀνυποκρίτου κατὰ τὸ κρυπτόν, ὅπερ ὁ ἀπόστολος τέλος πάσης ἐντολῆς εἶναι ἀπέδειξεν· ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡ ὄντως ἀληθινὴ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας γῆ, δι' ἣν καὶ πάντα ἐκεῖνα διὰ Μωυσέως τυπικῶς ὑποδείκνυται. εἰ γὰρ καὶ τῶν ἀκροτάτων τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ μέτρων οὐκ ἐφηψάμεθα διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν χαύνωσιν ἢ ἀμέλειαν, ἀλλ' οὖν γε τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἄμετρον εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἀγαθότητα διὰ τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος ῥημάτων ὁμολογεῖν ἡμᾶς καὶ κηρύσσειν ὡς εὐγνώμονας δούλους χρὴ καὶ ἀληθῆ καὶ βέβαια καὶ πιστὰ ἡγεῖσθαι τὰ ἐπαγγελθέντα τοῖς ὁλοτελῶς ἑαυτοὺς τῷ θεῷ ἐκδεδωκόσιν· 299 ἵνα κἂν διὰ νωθρείαν προαιρέσεως ἢ ἀσθενείας παντελῶς ἑαυτοὺς τῷ θεῷ μὲν ἀφιερώσαντες τῶν μεγάλων καὶ τελείων τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ μέτρων ἐπὶ πολὺ τύχωμεν ἐλαττούμενοι, ἀλλ' ὅμως κἂν ἐλέους τινὸς διὰ τὴν πίστιν τοῦ ὀρθοῦ φρονήματος τυχεῖν δυνηθῶμεν καὶ μὴ ὡς ἀντιταξάμενοι τοῖς διδάγμασι τοῦ πνεύματος καὶ ἀπειθεῖς εὑρεθέντες ἐκτὸς τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς γενώμεθα. Ἐπιστηρίζων γὰρ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος καὶ ἀσφαλιζόμενος τοὺς αὐτοῦ μαθητάς, ἵνα μὴ ἐν τοιούτῳ φρονήματι εὑρεθῇ τις αὐτῶν, φησί· Βλέπετε, ἀδελφοί, μήποτε ἔσται ἔν τινι ὑμῶν καρδία πονηρὰ ἀπιστίας ἐν τῷ ἀποστῆναι ἀπὸ θεοῦ ζῶντος· τὸ δὲ ἀποστῆναι οὐχὶ τὸ ἀρνήσασθαι τὸ ὄνομα ἐγνώρισεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀπιστῆσαι ταῖς ἐπαγγελίαις αὐτοῦ ἀπέδειξεν, ὅθεν ἀλληγορῶν εἰς τὴν τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἀλήθειαν τὰ τυπικὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ ὑποδεικνὺς τὴν ἐκείνων ἀπείθειαν πρὸς τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀσφάλειαν ἐπιφέρει λέγων· Τινὲς γὰρ ἀκούσαντες παρεπίκραναν, ἀλλ' οὐ πάντες οἱ ἐξελθόντες ἐξ Αἰγύπτου διὰ Μωυσέως. τίσι δὲ προσώχθισε τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη; οὐχὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν, ὧν τὰ κῶλα ἔπεσον ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ; τίσι δὲ ὤμοσε μὴ εἰσελεύσεσθαι εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν αὐτοῦ, εἰ μὴ τοῖς ἀπειθήσασι; καὶ βλέπομεν ὅτι οὐκ εἰσῆλθον διὰ ἀπιστίαν· καὶ ἐπάγει· Βλέπετε μήποτε καταλειπομένης ἐπαγγελίας εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν αὐτοῦ δοκῇ τις ἐξ ὑμῶν ὑστερηκέναι· καὶ γὰρ ἐσμὲν εὐηγγελισμένοι καθάπερ κἀκεῖνοι· ἀλλ' οὐκ ὠφέλησεν ὁ λόγος τῆς ἀκοῆς ἐκείνους μὴ συνεδρασμένους τῇ πίστει τοῖς ἀκούσασιν· εἰσερχόμεθα γὰρ εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν οἱ πιστεύσαντες. Χριστιανῶν γὰρ ἀληθινῶν κατάπαυσις ἡ τῶν παθῶν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀπολύτρωσις καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος πληρεστάτη ἐν καθαρᾷ καρδίᾳ 300 καὶ ἐνεργὴς ἐνοίκησις. διὸ προβὰς ἐπιφέρει· Σπουδάσωμεν οὖν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς ἐκείνην τὴν κατάπαυσιν· τουτέστιν ἀγωνιζόμενοι ἐν πάσαις ταῖς τῶν ἐντολῶν ἀρεταῖς, πιστεύοντες τοῦ ἁγιασμοῦ τοῦ πνεύματος τελείως καταξιοῦσθαι· καὶ Ἵνα μὴ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ὑποδείγματι πέσῃ τις τῆς ἀπειθείας. διὸ παραθαρρύνων καὶ εἰς πίστιν ἀναζωπυρῶν τὰς προαιρέσεις αὐτῶν φησι· Προσερχώμεθα οὖν μετὰ παρρησίας τῷ θρόνῳ τῆς χάριτος, ἵνα λάβωμεν ἔλεον καὶ χάριν εὕρωμεν εἰς εὔκαιρον βοήθειαν, καὶ πάλιν· Προσερχώμεθα οὖν μετὰ ἀληθινῆς καρδίας ἐν πληροφορίᾳ πίστεως, ἐρραντισμένοι ἤτοι κεκαθαρμένοι τὰς καρδίας ἀπὸ συνειδήσεως πονηρᾶς, καὶ πάλιν· Πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὸ αἷμα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καθαρίσει τὴν συνείδησιν ὑμῶν ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἔργων, εἰς τὸ λατρεύειν θεῷ ζῶντι καὶ ἀληθινῷ· καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς δὲ ἀναλεξάμενοι ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων γραφῶν μαρτυρίας εὕροιτε ἂν παμπόλλας τούτῳ τῷ σκοπῷ εἰρημένας. Ἀποδέδεικται τοίνυν ἐκ πάντων πλουσίως τοῖς εὐγνωμόνως τοῖς λόγοις τοῦ