Chapter XV.—(34.) The Opposing Passages.

And yet the passages are true which he goes on to adduce by way of answer, saying: “The Saviour in the gospel declares, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.’156    Matt. v. 8. David also says, ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that is innocent in his hands, and pure in his heart;’157    Ps. xxiv. 3, 4. and again in another passage, ‘Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good and upright in heart.’158    Ps. cxxv. 4. So also in Solomon: ‘Riches are good unto him that hath no sin on his conscience;’159    Ecclus. xiii. 24. and again in the same book, ‘Leave off from sin, and order thine hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from wickedness.’160    Ecclus. xxxviii. 10. So in the Epistle of John, ‘If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God; and whatsoever we ask, we shall receive of Him.’”161    1 John iii. 21, 22. For all this is accomplished by the will, by the exercise of faith, hope, and love; by keeping under the body; by doing alms; by forgiving injuries; by earnest prayer; by supplicating for strength to advance in our course; by sincerely saying, “Forgive us, as we also forgive others,” and “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”162    Matt. vi. 12, 13. By this process, it is certainly brought about that our heart is cleansed, and all our sin taken away; and what the righteous King, when sitting on His throne, shall find concealed in the heart and uncleansed as yet, shall be remitted by His mercy, so that the whole shall be rendered sound and cleansed for seeing God. For “he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy: yet mercy triumpheth against judgment.”163    Jas. ii. 13. If it were not so, what hope could any of us have? “When, indeed, the righteous King shall sit upon His throne, who shall boast that he hath a pure heart, or who shall boldly say that he is pure from sin?” Then, however, through His mercy shall the righteous, being by that time fully and perfectly cleansed, shine forth like the glorious sun in the kingdom of their Father.164    Matt. xiii. 43.

34. Tamen etiam illa vera sunt, quae respondendo subjecit, quod «Salvator ait in Evangelio, Beati mundicordes, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt (Matth. V, 8). Et quod David dicit: Quis ascendet in montem Domini? aut quis stabit in loco sancto ejus? Innocens manibus et mundo corde (Psal. XXIII, 3, 4). Et alibi: Benefac, Domine, bonis et rectis corde (Psal. CXXIV, 4). Item apud Salomonem: Bona est substantia, cui non est peccatum in conscientia (Eccli. XIII, 30). Item illic: Averte te a delicto, et dirige manus, et ab omni delicto munda cor tuum (Id. XXXVIII, 10). Item in Epistola Joannis: Si cor nostrum non reprehendat, fiduciam habemus ad Deum, et quaecumque 0310petierimus, accipiemus ab eo» (I Joan. II, 21, 22). Hoc enim agitur voluntate, credendo, sperando, diligendo, corpus castigando, eleemosynas faciendo, injurias ignoscendo, instanter orando, et proficiendi vires precando, veraciterque dicendo, Dimitte nobis, sicut et nos dimittimus; et, Ne inferas nos in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo (Matth. VI, 12, 13). Hoc prorsus agitur, ut cor mundetur, et peccatum omne tollatur; et quod rex justus , cum in throno sederit, occultum invenerit minusque mundatum, ejus misericordia remittatur; ut Deo videndo totum sanum mundumque reddatur. Judicium enim sine misericordia, sed illi qui non fecit misericordiam. Superexaltat autem misericordia judicio (Jacobi II, 13). Quod si non esset, quae spes esset? Quandoquidem cum rex justus sederit in throno, quis gloriabitur castum se habere cor? aut quis gloriabitur mundum se esse a peccato? Tunc ergo per ejus misericordiam justi plene perfecteque mundati, fulgebunt in regno Patris sui sicut sol (Matth. XIII, 43).