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our race, in that He was made like us in all things and became equal in His human part. O the ineffable love for mankind and goodness, that not only did He not punish us who had transgressed and sinned, but He also condescended to become what we had become through the transgression, a corruptible man from a corruptible man, mortal from mortal, having become sin from the sinner, He who is incorruptible, immortal, and sinless, appearing to the world only in deified flesh, and not in His bare divinity. For what reason? Because He did not come to judge the world, but to save the world, as He Himself says in His gospels.

For the revelation of His divinity becomes a judgment for those to whom it is revealed; for all flesh could not have endured the glory of His divinity appearing bare of its theandric conjunction and ineffable union, but all creation would have been utterly destroyed, both in soul and in body together, because at that time all were held fast by unbelief. For the divinity, that is, the grace of the All-holy Spirit, has never been revealed to anyone without faith; but if it has appeared, or should it again appear miraculously to any man, it is shown to be fearful and terrible, not illuminating, but burning, not life-giving, but punishing dreadfully. And this is evident from what the blessed Paul, the chosen vessel, suffered; for struck in his eyes by the flashing splendor of the unapproachable light, he was not enlightened, but rather darkened, not illuminated, and he also lost his natural sight; and this, when the great one was about to become at that time a teacher of the Church of Christ. For such and so great a man, who said: 'The God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts,' (294) and a little later: 'But we have this treasure' of illumination, that is, 'in our hearts,' at that time could not even look upon a small ray of it.

Therefore, from this we are taught precisely that for those still held by unbelief and the passions, grace is entirely unapproachable and invisible, but for those who through faith in fear and trembling work out the commandments and show worthy repentance, it is seen when revealed, and it itself irrefutably effects in them the judgment that is to come; or rather, it becomes a day of divine judgment, from which the pure one, always being illuminated, sees himself as he is in truth, and his works, both those done perceptibly and those performed in the soul, as they are, all in detail. Not only this, but he is also judged and examined by divine fire and then, being enriched with the water of tears, his whole body becomes moist and he is baptized little by little, entirely by the divine fire and Spirit, and becomes wholly pure, wholly undefiled, a son of light and of the day and no longer thereafter a mortal man. For this reason, such a one is not judged in the coming judgment and justice, for he has been judged beforehand; nor is he reproved by that light, for he has been enlightened beforehand; nor, entering into this fire, is he tested or burned, for he has been tested beforehand; nor does he consider the day of the Lord as then appearing, for he has become wholly a bright and shining day from communion and fellowship with God; nor is he then found in the world or with the world, but is entirely outside it. For 'I,' He says, 'have chosen you out of the world,' and the Apostle: 'For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, (295) so that we may not be condemned along with the world,' and again: 'Walk as children of light,' he says.

As many, therefore, as become children of that light and sons of the coming day and are able to walk honorably as in the day, upon them the day of the Lord will never come; for they are in it always and forever. For the day of the Lord, not for those who are always illumined by the divine light, but for those who are in the darkness of the passions and live in the world and desire the things of the world, is about to come suddenly

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γένος ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ κατά πάντα ἐξομοιωθῆναι ἡμῖν αὐτόν καί ἴσον ἐν τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ μέρει γενέσθαι. Ὤ τῆς ἀφάτου φιλανθρωπίας καί ἀγαθότητος, ὅτι οὐ μόνον παραβάντας ἡμᾶς καί ἁμαρτήσαντας οὐκ ἐκόλασεν, ἀλλά καί οἷοι γεγόναμεν ἡμεῖς διά ταῆς παραβάσεως, τοιοῦτος γενέσθαι καί αὐτός κατεδέξατο, ἄνθρωπος φθαρτός ἐξ ἀνθρώπου φθαρτοῦ, θνητός ἐκ θνητοῦ, ἁμαρτία ἐξ ἁμαρτήσαντος γεγονώς, ὁ ἄφθαρτος, ὁ ἀθάνατος καί ἀναμάρτητος ὤν, σαρκί μόνον τεθεωμένῃ τῷ κόσμῳ ὀφθείς, οὐχί καί αὐτῇ γυμνῇ τῇ θεότητι. Τίνος χάριν; Ὅτι οὐκ ἦλθε κρῖναι τόν κόσμον, ἀλλά σῶσαι τόν κόσμον, ὥς φησιν αὐτός ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις αὐτοῦ.

Ἡ γάρ ἀποκάλυψις αὐτοῦ τῆς θεότητος κρίσις ἐν οἷς ἀποκαλυφθῇ γίνεται· οὐ γάρ ἄν ὑπήνεγκε τήν δόξαν αὐτοῦ τῆς θεότητος πᾶσα σάρξ γυμνήν ἐπιφανεῖσαν τῆς θεανδρικῆς συναφείας τε καί ἀφράστου ἑνώσεως, ἀλλά ψυχικῶς τε ὁμοῦ καί σωματικῶς ἄρδην ἔμελλε πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις ἀπόλλυσθαι διά τό ὑπό ἀπιστίας τηνικαῦτα πάντας κατέχεσθαι. Ἡ γάρ θεότης, ἤγουν ἡ χάρις τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος, οὐδενί οὐδέποτε δίχα πίστεως πεφανέρωται· εἰ δέ ἐφάνη, εἴτε πάλιν ἐκ παραδόξου φανείη τινί τῶν ἀνθρώπων, φοβερά καί φρικτή δείκνυται, οὐ φωτίζουσα, ἀλλα φλέγουσα, οὐ ζωοποιοῦσα, ἀλλά τιμωροῦσα δεινῶς. Καί τοῦτο φανερόν ἐξ ὧν ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος, τό σκεῦος τῆς ἐκλογῆς, ἔπαθεν· πρός γάρ τῇ ἀστραψάσῃ αἴγλῃ τοῦ ἀπροσίτου φωτός ἐν αὐτῷ πληγείς τάς ὄψεις, οὐ φωτισθείς, καί σκοτισθείς μᾶλλον, οὐχί αὐγασθείς, καί τήν κατά φύσιν προσαπώλεσεν ὅρασιν· καί ταῦτα, ὁ μέγας μέλλων τηνικαῦτα τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλησίας γενέσθαι διδάσκαλος. Ὁ τοιοῦτος γάρ καί τηλικοῦτος, ὅς ἔφη· «Ὁ Θεός ὁ εἰπών ἐκ σκότους φῶς λάμψαι, ὅς ἔλαμψειν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν», (294) καί μετ᾿ ὀλίγα· «Ἔχομεν δέ τόν θησαυρόν τοῦτον» τῆς ἐλλάμψεως δηλονότι «ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν», τότε οὐδέ μικράν ἀπαυγήν αὐτοῦ ἀντιβλέπειν ἠδύνατο.

Τοιγαροῦν ἐντεῦθεν ἀκριβῶς διδασκόμεθα ὅτι τοῖς μέν ἔτι τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ καί τοῖς πάθεσι κατεχομένοις ἀπρόσιτος καί ἀόρατος ἡ χάρις εἰς ἅπαν ἐστί, τοῖς δέ διά πίστεως ἐν φόβῳ καί τρόμῳ τάς ἐντολάς κατεργαζομένοις καί μετάνοιαν ἀξίαν ἐπιδεικνυμένοις ἀποκαλυπτομένη ὁρᾶται, καί αὐτή δι᾿ ἑαυτῆς τήν μέλλούσαν γενέσθαι κρίσιν ἀνατιρρήτως ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐμποιεῖ· μᾶλλον δέ ἡμέρα θείας κρίσεως γίνεται, ἐξ ἧς ὁ καθαρός ἀεί ἐλλαμπόμενος ἐν ἀληθείᾳ ἑαυτόν οἷός ἐστι, καί τά ἔργα αὐτοῦ, τά τε αἰσθητῶς πραχθέντα, τά τε ψυχικῶς ἐνεργηθέντα, οἷά εἰσι, πάντα λεπτομερῶς καθορᾷ. Οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλά καί πυρί θείῳ κρίνεται καί ἀνακρίνεται καί ὕδατι τότε δακρύων πιαινόμενος ὅλον τό σῶμα κάθυγρος γίνεται καί βαπτίζεται κατ᾿ ὀλίγον ὅλος ὑπό τοῦ θείου πυρός τε καί Πνεύματος καί γίνεται ὅλος καθαρός, ὅλος ἀμόλυντος, υἱός φωτός καί ἡμέρας καί οὐχί ἔκτοτε ἀνθρώπου θνητοῦ. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο καί ὁ τοιοῦτος ἐν τῇ μελλούσῃ κρίσει καί δίκῃ οὐ κρίνεται, προκέκριται γάρ· οὐδέ ὑπό τοῦ φωτός ἐκείνου ἐλέγχεται, προπεφώτισται γάρ· οὐδέ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ πυρί εἰσερχόμενος δοκιμάζεται ἤ καίεται, προδεδοκίμασται γάρ· οὐδέ ὡς τότε φανεῖσαν τήν ἡμέραν Κυρίου λογίζεται, ὅλος γάρ ἐκ τῆς ὁμιλίας καί συνουσίας Θεοῦ ἡμέρα φαεινή καί λαμπρά γέγονεν· οὐδέ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τότε εὑρίσκεται ἤ σύν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἀλλ᾿ ἔξω τούτου εἰς ἅπαν ἐστίν. «Ἐγώ γάρ, φησίν, ἐξελεξάμην ὑμᾶς ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου», καί ὁ Ἀπόστολος· «Εἰ γάρ ἑαυτούς ἐκρίνομεν, οὐκ ἄν ἐκρινόμεθα· κρινόμενοι δέ ὑπό Κυρίου παιδευόμεθα, (295) ἵνα μή σύν τῷ κόσμῳ κατακριθῶμεν», καί πάλιν· «Ὡς τέκνα φωτός περιπατεῖτε», φησίν.

Ὅσοι οὖν τέκνα τοῦ φωτός ἐκείνου καί υἱοί τῆς μελλούσης ἡμέρας γένωνται καί ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ εὐσχημόνως περιπατεῖν δύνανται, ἐπ᾿ αὐτούς ἡ ἡμέρα Κυρίου οὐδέποτε ἐπελεύσεται· ἐν αὐτῇ γάρ εἰσιν ἀεί καί διά παντός. Ἡ γάρ ἡμέρα Κυρίου, οὐχί εἰς τούς ὑπό τοῦ θείου φωτός ἀεί καταλαμπομένους, ἀλλ᾿ εἰς τούς ἐν τῷ σκότει τῶν παθῶν ὄντας καί ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ διάγοντας καί τά τοῦ κόσμου ποθοῦντας, αἴφνης μέλλει