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against the knowledge of God, since his weapons are not carnal but powerful for God, being none other than the invocation of God, he defended them. 1075 Ps 117,14b Having become salvation, the Lord does not receive a beginning of being; for he is everlasting and eternal. But he becomes salvation by assuming a relation to those who are being saved. Hence, when one says that Christ has become all things, these things are submitted to the understanding: for he did not become God, Logos, truth, wisdom, or son, but he became for us wisdom, not simply becoming wisdom, but this very thing for us: righteousness and sanctification and redemption. For while being these things simply and eternally, he is said to have become them for us in relation to us. Thus also God made him both Christ and Lord, Christ meaning king and priest for those over whom he rules and for whom he offers sacrifices. And also Lord for those who wish to serve him, and in general, by understanding the things said about him in a relational sense, you will not be impious. 1076 Ps 117,15a You will understand the tents of the righteous as the dwelling places with the Father according to the fulfillment of the promises, about which the Savior says, When it fails (that is, mammon), they will receive you into the eternal tents. In these tents are all the righteous, rejoicing; for they have obtained the good things for which they hoped. Hence it is well said, The voice of rejoicing and confession is in the tents of the righteous, with sorrow and sighing having fled away. But if you also call the bodies of the righteous their tents, which have been given to them as incorruptible and spiritual, you will not doubt that in these their tents there will also be a voice of rejoicing and confession. It is cited A voice of rejoicing and salvation, because the righteous rejoice in the aforementioned tents for having received eternal salvation, which is none other than eternal life. 1077 Ps 117,15b-17 This, therefore, has wrought power for those who have partaken of him, so that each one may say, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This exalts and lifts up the one who partakes, so that, having been strengthened more brightly and greatly by the right hand of the Lord, he may say a second time, The right hand of the Lord has wrought power. Wherefore he says, I will not die the death that follows upon wickedness, but I will live, having partaken of the life that is contrary to the evil death, in order to declare the wonderful works of God that have come to be in me. And his right hand works power in everyone who thinks and does what is right, and also exalts him, so that a second power comes to be in him from the first power, on account of which, having possessed immortality, he will say, I will not die, but live, and what follows. 1078 Ps 117,19.20 Of old, the gates were the law and the prophets, through which Israel entered to God, but now the gate is faith, through which we are now brought more intimately, which is attested by the law and the prophets. For this interpretation, you will take also what is said in Jeremiah: Stand by the roads and ask for the eternal paths of the Lord, and examine which is the good way, and walk in it, and you will find purification for your souls. For here too, one standing in the many ways, I mean the particular virtues, will examine the paths trodden by the saints from eternity in order to know what good way according to contemplation is after these things, by which the one who walks finds purification for his soul, having purified it for obedience to the truth. 1079 Ps 117,18-20 You will also understand it thus: he who is chastened by the Lord with divine and very beneficial chastening does not fall into the death that holds sway over sinners. For since death meets the unchastened, he who is chastened by the Lord, being excellent in thought and deed, is not handed over to the death that takes those who are given over to passions of dishonor and a reprobate mind. Since the name of righteousness is predicated of all moral virtue, its gates must be called the particular virtues, into which enter those who knock on them through ascetic practice and care concerning them. And they enter in order to give thanks for what they accomplished outside

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κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐπείπερ τὰ οπλα αὐτοῦ οὐ σαρκικὰ ἀλλὰ δυνατὰ τῷ θεῷ οὐχ ετερα οντα τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ προσηγορίας ἠμύνατο αὐτούς. 1075 Ps 117,14b Γενόμενος εἰς σωτηρίαν ὁ κύριος οὐκ ἀρχὴν οὐσιώσεως δέχεται· ἀΐδιος γὰρ καὶ αἰώνιός ἐστι. γίνεται δὲ εἰς σωτηρίαν κατὰ τὸ ἀναλαμβάνειν σχέσιν τὴν πρὸς τοὺς σῳζομένους. οθεν πάντα γεγονέναι τὸν Χριστὸν λέγοντα ταῦτα ὑποβάλλεται τῇ διανοίᾳ· οὐ γὰρ γέγονε θεὸς λόγος οὐκ ἀλήθεια οὐ σοφία οὐχ υἱός, ἀλλὰ γέγονεν ἡμῖν σοφία, οὐχ ἁπλῶς γενόμενος σοφία ἀλλ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἡμῖν δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἁγιασμὸς καὶ ἀπολύτρωσις. ων γὰρ ἁπλῶς καὶ ἀϊδίως ταῦτα ἡμῖν γεγονέναι κατὰ ἀναφορὰν τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς λέγεται· ουτω καὶ χριστὸν καὶ κύριον πεποίηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεός, χριστὸν μὲν τουτέστι βασιλέα καὶ ἱερέα τοῖς βασιλευομένοις καὶ τοῖς ὑπὲρ ων προσάγει τὰς θυσίας. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς δουλεύειν ἐθέλουσιν αὐτῷ κύριον καὶ καθόλου τὰ σχετικῶς περὶ αὐτοῦ λεγόμενα ουτω διανοούμενος οὐκ ἀσεβήσεις. 1076 Ps 117,15a Σκηνὰς δὲ δικαίων νοήσεις τὰς παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ μονὰς κατὰ τὴν ἀπόδοσιν τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν, περὶ ων ὁ σωτήρ φησιν Οταν ἐκλίπῃ (δηλονότι ὁ μαμωνᾶς), δέξονται ὑμᾶς εἰς τὰς αἰωνίους σκηνάς. ἐν ταύταις ταῖς σκηναῖς πάντες εἰσὶν οἱ δίκαιοι ἀγαλλιώμενοι· τετύχασι γὰρ τῶν προσδοκωμένων ἀγαθῶν. οθεν καλῶς ειρηται Φωνὴ ἀγαλλιάσεως καὶ ἐξομολογήσεως ἐν σκηναῖς δικαίων, ἀποδρασάσης λύπης καὶ στεναγμοῦ. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὰ σώματα τῶν δικαίων σκηνὰς αὐτῶν ἐρεῖς ἀφθάρτων καὶ πνευματικῶν ἀποδοθεισῶν αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἀμφισβητήσεις ὡς καὶ ἐν ταύταις ταῖς σκηναῖς αὐτῶν φωνὴ ἀγαλλιάσεως καὶ ἐξομολογήσεως εσται. Φέρεται Φωνὴ ἀγαλλιάσεως καὶ σωτηρίας τῷ ὡς ἐν ταῖς προειρημέναις σκηναῖς ἀγαλλιᾶσθαι τοὺς δικαίους ἐπὶ τῷ αἰωνίαν σωτηρίαν ἀπειληφέναι οὐκ αλλην ουσαν τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς. 1077 Ps 117,15b-17 Αυτη τοιγαροῦν ἐποίησε δύναμιν τοῖς μετειληφόσιν αὐτοῦ, ὡς εκαστον φάναι Πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με Χριστῷ. αυτη τὸν μετέχοντα ὑψοῖ καὶ μετεωρίζει, ὡς φαιδρότερον καὶ μειζόνως ὑπὸ τῆς δεξιᾶς κυρίου δυναμωθέντα καὶ δεύτερον εἰπεῖν ∆εξιὰ κυρίου ἐποίησε δύναμιν. διό φησιν Οὐκέτι θνήξομαι τὸν ἑπόμενον τῇ κακίᾳ θάνατον, ἀλλὰ ζήσομαι μετασχὼν τῆς ἐναντίας τοῦ πονηροῦ θανάτου ζωῆς ἐπὶ τῷ ἐκδιηγήσασθαι τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς ἐμὲ γενόμενα θαυμαστὰ εργα. ποιεῖ δὲ δύναμιν ἡ δεξιὰ αὐτοῦ ἐν παντὶ τῷ δεξιὰ φρονοῦντι καὶ πράττοντι ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑψοῖ αὐτὸν ὡς καὶ δευτέραν γενέσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ τῆς προτέρας δυνάμεως δύναμιν ἐφ' ῃ ἀθανασίαν κεκτημένος ἐρεῖ τὸ Οὐκ ἀποθανοῦμαι, ἀλλὰ ζήσομαι, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. 1078 Ps 117,19.20 Πύλαι πάλαι ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται δι' ων εἰσῄει πρὸς θεὸν ὁ ̓Ισραήλ, πύλη δὲ νῦν ἡ πίστις δι' ης οἰκειότερον νῦν προσαγόμεθα μαρτυρουμένης ὑπὸ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν. εἰς ταύτην τὴν διάνοιαν λήψῃ καὶ τὸ ἐν ̔Ιερεμίᾳ λεγόμενον Στῆτε ἐπὶ ταῖς ὁδοῖς καὶ ἐρωτήσατε τρίβους κυρίου αἰωνίας καὶ ἐξετάσατε ποία ἐστὶν ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ ἀγαθή, καὶ βαδίσατε ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ εὑρίσκετε ἁγνισμὸν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν. καὶ ἐνταῦθα γὰρ στάς τις ἐν ταῖς πλείοσιν ὁδοῖς, φημὶ ταῖς ἰδικαῖς ἀρεταῖς, ἐξετάσει τὰς ἐξ αἰῶνος τετριμμένας ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων ἐπὶ τῷ γνῶναι τίς μετὰ ταῦτα κατὰ τὴν θεωρίαν ἀγαθὴ ὁδὸς ην ὁ βαδίζων ἁγνισμὸν εὑρίσκει τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτοῦ ἁγνίσας αὐτὴν εἰς τὴν ὑπακοὴν τῆς ἀληθείας. 1079 Ps 117,18-20 Νοήσεις καὶ ουτως· ὁ παιδεύσει θείᾳ καὶ πάνυ γε ὠφελίμως ὑπὸ κυρίου παιδευόμενος οὐκ ἐμπίπτει εἰς τὸν θάνατον τὸν κρατοῦντα τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων. ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἀπαιδεύτοις συναντᾷ θάνατος, ὁ παιδεύσει ὑπὸ κυρίου παιδευόμενος αριστος τὴν γνώμην καὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν ων οὐ παραδίδοται τῷ θανάτῳ τῷ παραλαμβάνοντι τοὺς παραδιδομένους πάθεσιν ἀτιμίας καὶ ἀδοκίμῳ νῷ. Τοῦ δὲ ὀνόματος τῆς δικαιοσύνης κατηγορουμένου κατὰ πάσης τῆς ἠθικῆς ἀρετῆς τὰς πύλας αὐτῆς τὰς ἰδικὰς ἀρετὰς λεκτέον, εἰς ας εἰσέρχονται οἱ δι' ἀσκήσεως καὶ ἐπιμελείας τῆς περὶ αὐτῶν κρούοντες αὐτάς. εἰσέρχονται δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ ἐξομολογήσασθαι ὑπὲρ ων επραξαν εξω