XL.  And what of the loins, or reins, for we must not pass these over?  Let the purification take hold of these also.  Let our loins be girded about and kept in check by continence, as the Law bade Israel of old when partaking of the Passover.169    Exod. xii. 11.  For none comes out of Egypt purely, or escapes the Destroyer, except he who has disciplined these.  And let the reins be changed by that good conversion by which they transfer all the affections to God, so that they can say, Lord, all my desire is before Thee,170    Ps. xxxviii. 9. and the day of man have I not desired;171    Job xvii. 16. for you must be a man of desires,172    Dan. x. 11. but they must be those of the spirit.  For thus you would destroy the dragon that carries the greater part of his strength upon his navel and his loins,173    Job xxxix. 16. by slaying the power that comes to him from these.  Do not be surprised at my giving a more abundant honour to our uncomely parts,174    1 Cor. xii. 23. mortifying them and making them chaste by my speech, and standing up against the flesh.  Let us give to God all our members which are upon the earth;175    Col. iii. 5. let us consecrate them all; not the lobe of the liver176    Levit. iii. 4.  The Mosaic Law ordered that the upper part of the liver and the kidneys, together with the fat, should in creation sacrifices be consecrated to God; signifying that anger (which was intimated by the liver, which produces bile), and lust (signified by the kidneys and the fat) should especially be sacrificed to God.  Again Moses assigned the shoulder and the breast of some sacrifices to the Priests, hinting obscurely at this, that we ought to take care to offer our hearts to the Priests by confession (for the heart is signified by the breast which protects it) and also our actions, which are intended by the shoulder, that by the Priest they may be presented to God.  But the Apostle bids us mortify all our members which are upon the earth, and offer ourselves entire as a sacrifice to God, destroying with the sword of the Word of God all our evil and corrupt affections.—Nicetas. or the kidneys with the fat, nor some part of our bodies now this now that (why should we despise the rest?); but let us bring ourselves entire, let us be reasonable holocausts,177    Rom. xii. 1. perfect sacrifices; and let us not make only the shoulder or the breast a portion for the Priest to take away,178    Levit. vii. 34. for that would be a small thing, but let us give ourselves entire, that we may receive back ourselves entire; for this is to receive entirely, when we give ourselves to God and offer as a sacrifice our own salvation.

Μʹ. Τί δὲ ἡ ὀσφύς; Τί δὲ οἱ νεφροί; Μηδὲ γὰρ τοῦτο παρέλθωμεν. Ἁπτέσθω καὶ τούτων ἡ κάθαρσις: ἔστωσαν ἡμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι, καὶ ἀνεσταλμέναι δι' ἐγκρατείας, ὥσπερ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ πάλαι, κατὰ τὸν νόμον, τοῦ πάσχα μεταλαμβάνοντι. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ καθαρῶς Αἴγυπτον ἐξέρχεται, οὐδὲ φεύγει τὸν ὀλοθρεύοντα, μὴ ταῦτα παιδαγωγήσας. Οἱ δὲ τὴν καλὴν ἀλλοίωσιν ἀλλοιούσθωσαν, ὅλον τὸ ἐπιθυμητικὸν πρὸς Θεὸν μεταφέροντες, ὥστε δύνασθαι λέγειν: Κύριε, ἐναντίον σου πᾶσα ἡ ἐπιθυμία μου: καὶ, Ἡμέραν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἐπεθύμησα. Δεῖ γὰρ γενέσθαι ἄνδρα ἐπιθυμιῶν τῶν τοῦ Πνεύματος. Οὕτως ἂν ἡμῖν καὶ ὁ τὸ πλεῖστον τῆς ἰσχύος ἐπὶ τοῦ ὀμφαλοῦ καὶ τῆς ὀσφύος φέρων δράκων καταλυθείη, τῆς περὶ ταῦτα δυναστείας αὐτῷ νεκρωθείσης. Μὴ θαυμάσῃς δὲ, εἰ καὶ τοῖς ἀσχήμοσιν ἡμῶν, τιμὴν περισσοτέραν τίθημι, λόγῳ νεκρῶν ταῦτα καὶ σωφρονίζων, καὶ κατὰ τῆς ὕλης ἱστάμενος. Πάντα δῶμεν Θεῷ τὰ μέλη ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, πάντα καθιερώσωμεν. Μὴ λοβὸν ἥπατος, μηδὲ νεφροὺς μετὰ τῆς πιμελῆς, μηδὲ τὸ μέρος τοῦ σώματος, μηδὲ τὸ καὶ τό. Διὰ τί γὰρ τὰ ἄλλα ἡμῖν ἀτιμαστέα; Ὅλους δὲ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἀνενέγκωμεν: γενώμεθα ὁλοκαυτώματα λογικὰ, θύματα τέλεια: μηδὲ τὸν βραχίονα μόνον, μηδὲ τὸ στηθύνιον μόνον, ἀφαίρεμα ἱερατικὸν ποιώμεθα (μικρὸν γὰρ τοῦτο): ἀλλ' ὅλους διδόντες ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς, ὅλους ἀντιλαμβάνωμεν: ἐπειδὴ τοῦτό ἐστι λαβεῖν καθαρῶς, τὸ τῷ Θεῷ δοθῆναι, καὶ ἱερουργῆσαι τὴν ἡμῶν αὐτῶν σωτηρίαν.