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at his fearful and terrible judgment seat, when all of us, naked and with necks bowed, kings and poor alike, stand before him. Hear what things were given to us by him. Indeed, there are many others which no man will be able to enumerate, but for now, the better and more perfect ones: freedom from condemnation, sanctification from defilement, the advance from darkness to his ineffable light, becoming his children and sons and heirs through divine baptism, to put on God himself (425), to become members of him and to receive the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, which is a royal seal, with which the Lord seals his own sheep - and why say more? to make us like him and to make us his brothers and fellow heirs. All these things and more than these are given to the baptized immediately from divine baptism, which the divine Apostle calls a divine wealth and inheritance.

4. But the commandments of the Master were given as guardians of these ineffable gifts and donations, like a wall surrounding the faithful on all sides and keeping the treasure laid up in the soul inviolate and making it unassailable to all enemies and thieves. But we think that the commandments of the benevolent God are kept by us and we are burdened by this, not knowing that rather we are kept by them; For he who keeps the commandments of God does not preserve them but himself, and guards himself from visible and invisible enemies, concerning which Paul, as they are innumerable and fearful, declared, saying: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places," that is, those in the air, these being invisibly always arrayed against us.

He therefore who keeps the commandments is kept by them and does not lose the wealth entrusted to him by God; but he who despises them is found naked and an easy prey to his enemies, and having lost all the wealth, he becomes a debtor to the king and master for all those things which we have mentioned, for which it is not possible for a man to give anything in return or to find them; for they are heavenly (426) and he came from the heavens and each day he comes bringing and distributing them to the faithful, and where will those who have received and lost them be able to find them again? Truly, nowhere. Just as neither Adam nor any of his sons was able to effect a recall of himself or of his kin, unless the God who is above nature and became his son according to the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, having come, raised both him and us from the fall by divine power. But he who does not keep all the commandments, but seems to keep some while betraying others, let him know that if he neglects even one, he thus loses the whole wealth. For suppose for me that the commandments are twelve armed men, standing in a circle and guarding you, who are naked in their midst; and again, imagine for me others like them, surrounding you from all sides and pressing upon you as enemy combatants, seeking to seize you and slaughter you immediately. If, then, one of the twelve should fall down by his own will and neglect his guard duty and leave his post as an open door to the adversary, what will be the benefit of the remaining eleven men, when one enters into their midst and mercilessly cuts you down, since they are not able to turn to your aid? For if they should wish to turn back, they too will be destroyed by the adversaries. So it will surely be also with you if you do not keep the commandments. For having been wounded by one enemy and having fallen, all the commandments fly away from you and little by little your strength is taken away, otherwise, like a vessel full of wine or oil, even if it is not pierced on all sides, but from one part where one hole is made, all that is inside, little by little

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ἐπί τοῦ φοβεροῦ καί φρικτοῦ κριτηρίου αὐτοῦ, ὅτε γυμνοί καί τετραχηλισμένοι ἅπαντες, βασιλεῖς ὁμοῦ καί πτωχοί, παριστάμεθα. Τίνα δέ εἰσι τά δοθέντα ἡμῖν παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἄκουσον. Πολλά μέν οὖν ἄλλα ἅ οὐδείς ἀνθρώπων ἰσχύσει ἐναριθμῆσαι, τέως δέ τά κρείττω καί τελεώτερα, τήν ἐκ τῆς καταδίκης ἐλευθερίαν, τόν ἐκ τοῦ μιασμοῦ ἁγιασμόν, τήν ἐκ τοῦ σκότους πρός τό ἀνεκλάλητον αὐτοῦ φῶς πρόοδον, τό τέκνα καί υἱούς αὐτοῦ καί κληρονόμους διά τοῦ θείου γενέσθαι βαπτίσματος, τό αὐτόν τόν Θεόν (425) ἐπενδύσασθαι, τό μέλη γενέσθαι αὐτοῦ καί τό Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα λαβεῖν ἐνοικοῦν ἐν ἡμῖν, ὅπερ σφραγίς ὑπάρχει βασιλική, ἐν ᾗ τά ἴδια πρόβατα σφραγίζει ὁ Κύριος - καί τί πολλά λέγω; τό ὁμοίους καί ἡμᾶς αὐτοῦ ποιῆσαι καί ἀδελφούς καί συγκληρονόμους αὐτοῦ ἀπεργάσασθαι.Ταῦτα πάντα καί ἄλλα πλείονα τούτων τοῖς βαπτιζομένοις εὐθύς ἀπό τοῦ θείου βαπτίσματος δίδοται, ἅτινα καί ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος θεῖον πλοῦτον καί κλῆρον κατονομάζει.

4. Αἱ δέ ἐντολαί τοῦ ∆εσπότου ὥσπερ τῶν ἀπορρήτων τούτων χαρισμάτων καί δωρεῶν ἐδόθησαν φύλακες, οἷα δή ὥσπερ τεῖχος πάντοθεν περικυκλοῦσαι τόν πιστόν καί τόν ἐναποκείμενον θησαυρόν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἄσυλον διατηροῦσαι καί πᾶσιν ἐχθροῖς καί κλέπταις ποιοῦσαι ἀνεπιχείρητον. Ἀλλά γάρ νομίζομεν φυλάττεσθαι παρ᾿ ἡμῶν τάς ἐντολάς τοῦ φιλανθρώπου Θεοῦ καί ἐπί τούτῳ ἀχθόμεθα, ἀγνοοῦντες ὅτι μᾶλλον παρ᾿ ἐκείνων ἡμεῖς φυλαττόμεθα˙ Ὁ γάρ τάς τοῦ Θεοῦ τηρῶν ἐντολάς οὐκ ἐκείνας ἀλλ᾿ ἑαυτόν διατηρεῖ καί φυλάττει ἀπό τῶν ὁρωμένων καί ἀοράτων ἐχθρῶν, περί ὧν ὡς ἀναριθμήτων ὄντων καί φοβερῶν ὁ Παῦλος ἐδήλωσε λέγων˙ «οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πάλη πρός αἷμα καί σάρκα ἀλλά πρός τάς ἀρχάς, πρός τάς ἐξουσίας, πρός τούς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, πρός τά πνεύματα τῆς πονηρίας ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις», τά ἐν τῷ ἀέρι δηλονότι, τούτων ἀφανῶς ἀεί παρατασσομένων καθ᾿ ἡμῶν.

Ὁ οὖν φυλάττων τάς ἐντολάς φυλάττεται παρ᾿ αὐτῶν καί τόν ἐμπιστευθέντα αὐτῷ παρά τοῦ Θεοῦ πλοῦτον οὐκ ἀπόλλυσιν˙ ὁ δέ ἐκείνων καταφρονῶν γυμνός εὑρίσκεται καί εὐχείρωτος τοῖς ἐχθροῖς καί τόν πλοῦτον ἀπολέσας ἅπαντα ὑπόχρεως τῷ βασιλεῖ καί δεσπότῃ γίνεται πάντων ἐκείνων ὧν εἴπομεν, ὑπέρ ὧν ἀνταποδοῦναί τι ἤ ταῦτα εὑρεῖν δυνατόν οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνθρώπῳ˙ οὐράνια γάρ (426) εἰσι καί ἀπό τῶν οὐρανῶν ἦλθε καί καθ᾿ ἑκάστην ἔρχεται κομίζων καί διανέμων αὐτά τοῖς πιστοῖς, καί ποῦ οἱ λαβόντες καί ἀπολέσαντες εὑρεῖν αὐτά πάλιν δυνήσονται; Ὄντως οὐδαμοῦ. Ὡς οὐδέ ὁ Ἀδάμ ἤ τίς τῶν ἐκείνου υἱῶν ἀνάκλησιν ἑαυτοῦ ἤ τῶν συγγενῶν ἴσχυσεν ἀπεργάσασθαι, εἰ μή ὁ ὑπέρ φύσιν Θεός καί κατά σάρκα υἱός αὐτοῦ γεγονώς, ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ἐλθών κἀκεῖνον καί ἡμᾶς τοῦ πτώματος ἐξήγειρε θεϊκῇ δυνάμει, Ὁ δέ μή πάσας τάς ἐντολάς ἀλλά τινάς μέν φυλάττειν δοκῶν, τινάς δέ προδιδούς γινωσκέτω ὅτι κἄν μιᾶς ἀμελήσῃ καί οὕτω τόν πλοῦτον ὅλον ἀπόλλυσιν. Ὑπόθου γάρ μοι δώδεκα ἄνδρας ἐνόπλους εἶναι τάς ἐντολάς καί κυκλόθεν ἱσταμένους καί μέσον αὐτῶν γυμνόν σε ὄντα φυλάττοντας˙ τοιούτους δέ πάλιν ἄλλους μοι νόει περιστοιχοῦντας πάντοθεν καί ἐπικειμένους ἀντιπάλους πολεμιστάς καί λαβεῖν σε ζητοῦντας καί κατασφάξαι εὐθύς. Εἰ οὖν εἷς ἐκ τῶν δώδεκα θελήματι οἰκείῳ καταπέσειε καί τῆς φυλακῆς ἀμελήσειε καί ὡς θύραν ἀνεῳγμένην τῷ ἀντιπάλῳ τόν τόπον αὐτοῦ ἐάσειε, τί τῶν λοιπῶν ἔνδεκα ἀνδρῶν τό ὄφελος ἔσται, τοῦ ἑνός μέσον εἰσελθόντος αὐτῶν καί σε ἀφειδῶς κατατέμνοντος, ὡς ἐκείνων μή ἐπιστραφῆναι δυναμένων πρός σήν βοήθειαν; Εἰ γάρ καί ἐπιστραφῆναι θελήσουσι κἀκεῖνοι ὑπό τῶν ἀντιδίκων ἀναλωθήσονται. Οὕτως δέ πάντως ἔσται καί ἐπί σοῦ μή φυλάσσοντος τάς ἐντολάς. Ὑπό γάρ ἑνός τρωθέντος σου ἐχθροῦ καί καταπεσόντος πᾶσαι αἱ ἐντολαί ἀφίπτανται ἀπό σοῦ καί κατά μικρόν τήν ἰσχύν ἀφαιρῇ, ἄλλως δέ ὡς ἀγγεῖον οἴνου πεπλησμένον ἤ ἐλαίου, εἰ καί μή πάντοθεν διατρηθῇ, ἀλλ᾿ ἐξ ἑνός μέρους μιᾶς γενομένης ὀπῆς ὅλον τό ἔνδον κατ᾿ ὀλίγον