Letter 472

To the Same Person. The demon who is the enemy of our life, while pretending to show mercy, contrives to make us reason that there will be no judgment, and no recompense to each according to his works; and by these words, anointing them with flattery for evil, he destroys those who are deceived. For the devil is first of all sinners. But Christ, the Savior of all, who alone is properly pure and just, by bearing witness and convicting, by drawing tight and disciplining, and by foretelling the judgment that is to come, saves those who obey him. Consider, then, that this is the meaning of what is written: "The righteous one shall discipline me in mercy and shall convict me; but let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head" [Psalm 140:5 LXX] — that is, my governing faculty, or my power of thought.

Ὁ μὲν ἐχθρὸς τῆς ἡμετέρας ζωῆς δαίμων, ἐλεεῖν προσποιούμενος παρασκευάζει λογίζεσθαι, ὅτι οὐκ ἔσται κρίσις, οὐδὲ ἀνταπόδοσις ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, καὶ τούτοις τοῖς ῥήμασι λιπαίνων φαύλως τοὺς ἐξαπατωμένους καταφθείρει. Πρῶτος γὰρ πάντων τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐστιν ὁ διάβολος. Ὁ δὲ Σωτὴρ τῶν ὅλων Χριστός, ὁ μόνος κυρίως καθαρὸς καὶ δίκαιος, διαμαρτυρόμενός τε καὶ ἐξελέγχων, στύφων τε καὶ παιδεύων, καὶ προλέγων τὴν ἐσομένην κρίσιν, ἐσώζει τοὺς πειθομένους αὐτῷ. Τοῦτο οὖν εἶναι νόμιζε τὸ γεγραμμένον · « Παιδεύσει με δίκαιος ἐν ἐλέει, καὶ ἐλέγξει με · ἔλαιον δὲ ἁμαρτωλοῦ μὴ λιπανάτω τὴν κεφαλήν μου, » τουτέστι τὸ ἡγεμονικόν μου, ἢ τὸ φρονοῦν μου.