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to righteousness? I do not yet speak of Gehenna, he says, nor of that great punishment, but of the shame here, when you become slaves, and willing slaves, and slaves of sin, and for such a wage, as to die again. For if before baptism it worked a bodily death, and the wound needed so much healing, that the Lord of all went down to death, and so to loose the evil, after so great a gift, and freedom, when this [sin] takes you again, willingly submitting, what will it not work? Do not then run into so great a pit, nor willingly betray yourself. For in wars soldiers are often handed over even unwillingly; but here, unless you yourself desert, no one will overcome you. Having then shamed them from what is fitting, he also frightens them by the penalties, and sets down the wages of both, righteousness and death; but not such a death, but one much more grievous. For if Christ will no longer die, who will loose that death? No one. Therefore it is necessary to be punished and chastised completely; 60.489 for a perceptible death no longer occurs, as it does here, giving rest to the body, and separating it from the soul; For the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Whence the punishment will be immortal, but not for those who obey God, but righteousness, and the good things that spring from it, will be the rewards, But thanks be to God, that you were slaves of sin, but you obeyed from the heart that form of teaching to which you were delivered. Having shamed them from slavery, having frightened them from the penalties and encouraged them, he sets them upright again by the memory of His good deeds. For through these things he shows, both that they have been delivered from great evils, and that it was not by their own labors, and that the things to come are easier. For just as someone who has rescued a captive from a cruel tyrant, and exhorts him not to return to him, reminds him of his harsh tyranny; so also Paul most emphatically points out the past evils through giving thanks to God. For it was not of human strength, he says, to deliver us from all those things, but thanks be to God who both willed and was able to do so much. And well did he say, You obeyed from the heart; for you were neither compelled nor forced, but you departed willingly with eagerness. And this is at once the part of one praising, and of one rebuking. For you who came willingly, and endured no necessity, what pardon could you have, and what defense, if you return to your former state? Then, that you may learn that it was not of their own right-mindedness only, but the whole thing was also of the grace of God, having said, You obeyed from the heart, he added, that form of teaching to which you were delivered. For obedience from the heart indicates free will, but being delivered hints at the help of God. And what is the form of teaching? To live rightly and with the best conduct. But having been set free from sin, you became slaves to righteousness. Here he shows two gifts of God, both to free from sin, and to enslave to righteousness, which is better than any freedom. For God has done the same thing, as if someone, having taken an orphan child carried off by barbarians into their own land, should not only deliver him from captivity, but also set himself over him as a caring father, and bring him to the greatest honor; which is indeed what has happened in our case. For not only did he free us from our former evils, but he also led us to an angelic life, and cut for us a path of the best conduct, delivering us over to the security of righteousness, and having killed the old evils, and put to death the old man, and led us by the hand to the immortal life. Let us then abide living this life; for many of those who seem to breathe and to walk, are in a more wretched state than the dead. 5. For there are different kinds of death; and there is one of the body, according to which Abraham, being dead, was not dead; For God, he says, is not the God of the dead, but of the living; another is of the soul, to which Christ alluded when he said, Let the dead bury their own dead; another which is also praiseworthy, that through the

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δικαιοσύνην; Οὔπω λέγω τὴν γέενναν, φησὶν, οὐδὲ τὴν πολλὴν ἐκείνην κόλασιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐνταῦθα αἰσχύνην, ὅταν δοῦλοι γίνησθε, καὶ ἑκόντες δοῦλοι, καὶ ἁμαρτίας δοῦλοι, καὶ ἐπὶ τοιούτῳ μισθῷ, ὥστε πάλιν ἀποθανεῖν. Εἰ γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος θάνατον εἰργάσατο σωματικὸν, καὶ τοσαύτης ἐδεήθη τῆς θεραπείας τὸ ἕλκος, ὥστε τὸν ∆εσπότην ἁπάντων εἰς θάνατον κατελθεῖν, καὶ οὕτω λῦσαι τὸ κακὸν, μετὰ τὴν τοσαύτην δωρεὰν, καὶ ἐλευθερίαν, λαμβάνουσά σε ἑκόντα αὕτη πάλιν ὑποκατακλινόμενον, τί οὐκ ἐργάσεται; Μὴ τοίνυν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δράμῃς βάραθρον, μηδὲ ἑκὼν σεαυτὸν προδῷς. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν πολέμων καὶ ἄκοντες παραδίδονται πολλάκις οἱ στρατιῶται· ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἂν μὴ αὐτὸς αὐτομολήσῃς, οὐδείς σου περιέσται. Ἐντρέψας τοίνυν ἀπὸ τοῦ πρέποντος, φοβεῖ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπάθλων, καὶ τίθησιν ἀμφοτέρων τὰ ἐπίχειρα, δικαιοσύνην καὶ θάνατον· θάνατον δὲ οὐ τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ χαλεπώτερον. Εἰ γὰρ οὐκέτι ἀποθανεῖται Χριστὸς, τίς λύσει τὸν θάνατον ἐκεῖνον; Οὐδείς. Οὐκοῦν ἀνάγκη διόλου κολάζεσθαι καὶ τιμωρεῖσθαι· 60.489 οὐκέτι γὰρ θάνατος παραγίνεται αἰσθητὸς, καθάπερ ἐνταῦθα, ἀναπαύων τὸ σῶμα, καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς διαιρῶν· Ἔσχατος γὰρ ἐχθρὸς καταργεῖται ὁ θάνατος. Ὅθεν ἀθάνατος ἔσται ἡ κόλασις, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ τοῖς ὑπακούουσι Θεῷ, ἀλλὰ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ τὰ ἐκ ταύτης βλαστάνοντα ἀγαθὰ, ἔσται τὰ ἔπαθλα, Χάρις δὲ τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι ἦτε δοῦλοι τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ὑπηκούσατε δὲ ἐκ καρδίας εἰς ὃν παρεδόθητε τύπον διδαχῆς. Ἐντρέψας ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας, φοβήσας ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπάθλων καὶ προτρέψας, ἀνορθοῖ πάλιν ἀπὸ τῆς μνήμης τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν αὐτούς. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τούτων δείκνυσιν, ὅτι τε μεγάλων ἀπηλλάγησαν κακῶν, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἐξ οἰκείων πόνων, καὶ ὅτι τὰ μέλλοντα εὐκολώτερα. Καθάπερ γάρ τις ὠμοῦ τυράννου τὸν αἰχμάλωτον ἐξελόμενος, καὶ παραινῶν μὴ παλινδρομῆσαι πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἀναμιμνήσκει τῆς χαλεπῆς αὐτοῦ τυραννίδος· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἐμφαντικώτατα τὰ παρελθόντα ἐνδείκνυται κακὰ διὰ τοῦ εὐχαριστεῖν τῷ Θεῷ. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀνθρωπίνης ἰσχύος ἦν, φησὶν, ἐκείνων ἡμᾶς ἀπαλλάξαι πάντων, ἀλλὰ τῷ Θεῷ χάρις τῷ τοσαῦτα καὶ βουληθέντι καὶ δυνηθέντι. Καὶ καλῶς εἶπεν, Ὑπηκούσατε ἐκ καρδίας· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἠναγκάσθητε οὐδὲ ἐβιάσθητε, ἀλλ' ἑκόντες μετὰ προθυμίας ἀπέστητε. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐγκωμιάζοντός ἐστιν ὁμοῦ, καὶ καθαπτομένου. Οἱ γὰρ ἑκόντες προσελθόντες, καὶ μηδεμίαν ὑπομείναντες ἀνάγκην, ποίαν ἂν σχοίητε συγγνώμην, τίνα δὲ ἀπολογίαν ἐπὶ τὰ πρότερα παλινδρομοῦντες; Εἶτα ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι οὐ τῆς αὐτῶν εὐγνωμοσύνης μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριτος τὸ πᾶν γέγονεν, εἰπὼν, Ὑπηκούσατε ἐκ καρδίας, ἐπήγαγεν, Εἰς ὃν παρεδόθητε τύπον διδαχῆς. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ὑπακοὴ ἡ ἐκ καρδίας τὸ αὐτεξούσιον δηλοῖ, τὸ δὲ παραδοθῆναι, τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ βοήθειαν αἰνίττεται. Τίς δὲ ὁ τύπος τῆς διδαχῆς; Ὀρθῶς ζῇν καὶ μετὰ πολιτείας ἀρίστης. Ἐλευθερωθέντες δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἐδουλώθητε τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ. ∆ύο ἐνταῦθα δείκνυσι τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρεὰς, τό τε ἁμαρτίας ἐλευθερῶσαι, καὶ τὸ δουλῶσαι τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ, ὅπερ ἐλευθερίας ἁπάσης ἄμεινόν ἐστι. Καὶ γὰρ ταὐτὸν πεποίηκεν ὁ Θεὸς, οἷον ἂν εἴ τις παῖδα ὀρφανὸν λαβὼν ὑπὸ βαρβάρων εἰς τὴν αὐτῶν ἀπενεχθέντα γῆν, μὴ μόνον τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ἀπαλλάξειεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πατέρα ἑαυτὸν αὐτῷ κηδεμονικὸν ἐπιστήσειε, καὶ εἰς μεγίστην ἀξίαν ἀγάγοι· ὃ δὴ καὶ ἐφ' ἡμῶν γέγονεν. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον τῶν παλαιῶν κακῶν ἠλευθέρωσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς ἀγγελικὸν ἤγαγε βίον, καὶ ὁδὸν ἡμῖν πολιτείας ἔτεμεν ἀρίστης, τῇ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀσφαλείᾳ παραδοὺς, καὶ τὰ παλαιὰ ἀποκτείνας κακὰ, καὶ νεκρώσας τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ζωὴν χειραγωγήσας ἡμᾶς τὴν ἀθάνατον. Μένωμεν τοίνυν ταύτην ζῶντες· πολλοὶ γὰρ τῶν δοκούντων ἐμπνεῖν καὶ βαδίζειν, νεκρῶν ἀθλιώτερον διάκεινται. εʹ. Καὶ γὰρ διάφοροι νεκρότητός εἰσι τρόποι· καὶ ἔστιν εἷς μὲν ὁ τοῦ σώματος, καθ' ὃν ὁ Ἀβραὰμ νεκρὸς ὢν, οὐκ ἦν νεκρός· Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς, φησὶν, οὐκ ἔστι Θεὸς νεκρῶν, ἀλλὰ ζώντων· ἕτερος ὁ τῆς ψυχῆς, ὃν ὁ Χριστὸς αἰνιττόμενος ἔλεγεν. Ἄφες τοὺς νεκροὺς θάψαι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν νεκρούς· ἄλλος ὁ καὶ ἐπαινετὸς, ὁ διὰ τῆς