XXXII.  Let the laver be not for your body only, but also for the image of God in you; not merely a washing away of sins in you, but also a correction of your temper; let it not only wash away the old filth, but let it purify the fountainhead.  Let it not only move you to honourable acquisition, but let it teach you also honourably to lose possession; or, which is more easy, to make restitution of what you have wrongfully acquired.  For what profit is it that your sin should have been forgiven you, but the loss which you have inflicted should not be repaired to him whom you have injured?  Two sins are on your conscience, the one that you made a dishonest gain, the other that you retained the gains; you received forgiveness for the one, but in respect of the other you are still in sin, for you have still possession of what belongs to another; and your sin has not been put to an end, but only divided by the time which has elapsed.  Part of it was perpetrated before your Baptism, but part remains after your Baptism; for Baptism carries forgiveness of Past, not of Present sins; and its purification must not be played with, but be genuinely impressed upon you; you must be made perfectly bright, and not be merely coloured; you must receive the gift, not of a mere covering of your sins, but of a taking them clean away.  Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven102    Ps. xxxii. 1.…this is done by the complete cleansing…and whose sins are hidden…this belongs to those who are not yet healed in their deepest soul.  Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.…This is a third class of sinners, whose actions are not praiseworthy, but who are innocent of intention.

ΛΒʹ. Γενέσθω σοι τὸ λουτρὸν, μὴ τοῦ σώματος μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς εἰκόνος: μὴ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἔκπλυσις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ τρόπου διόρθωσις: μὴ τὸν προλαβόντα βόρβορον ἀποκλυζέτω μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν πηγὴν καθαιρέτω: μὴ τὸ καλῶς κτᾶσθαι τυπούτω μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ καλῶς ἀποκτᾶσθαι, ἢ, τό γε κουφότατον, τὸ κακῶς κτηθὲν ἀποτίθεσθαι. Τί γὰρ ὄφελος σοὶ μὲν συγχωρηθῆναι τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, τῷ δὲ ἠδικημένῳ μὴ λυθῆναι τὴν παρὰ σοῦ ζημίαν: δύο σοι κακῶν ὄντων, τοῦ τε κτήσασθαι μὴ δικαίως, καὶ τοῦ τὸ κτηθὲν κατέχεσθαι; Τοῦ μὲν ἄφεσιν ἔλαβες, τὸ δὲ σήμερον ἀδικεῖς. Σήμερον γάρ ἐστι παρὰ σοὶ τὸ ἀλλότριον: καὶ οὐκ ἀνῃρέθη τὸ ἁμάρτημα, τῷ χρόνῳ δὲ διεκόπη. Τὸ μὲν πρὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος τολμηθὲν, τὸ δὲ μένον μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα: τῶν γὰρ ἡμαρτημένων, οὐ τῶν ἁμαρτανομένων τὸ λουτρὸν ἔχει συγχώρησιν. Δεῖ δὲ μὴ σοφισθῆναι τὸν καθαρμὸν, ἀλλ' ἐνσημανθῆναι: λαμπρυνθῆναί σε τελείως, ἀλλὰ μὴ χρωσθῆναι: μηδὲ ἐπικάλυψιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, ἀλλ' ἀπαλλαγὴν ἔχειν τὸ χάρισμα. Μακάριοι, ὧν ἀφέθησαν αἱ ἀνομίαι: τοῦτο τῆς παντελοῦς καθάρσεως: καὶ ὧν ἐπεκαλύφθησαν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι: τοῦτο τῶν οὔπω τὸ βάθος καθηραμένων. Μακάριος ἀνὴρ, ᾧ οὐ μὴ λογίσηται Κύριος ἁμαρτίαν: τρίτη τις αὕτη τάξις τῶν ἁμαρτανομένων: ὧν ἡ μὲν πρᾶξις οὐκ ἐπαινετὴ, τὸ δὲ τῆς γνώμης ἀνεύθυνον.