8. For God seeks nothing else from us, save
a good purpose. Say not, How are my sins blotted out? I
tell thee, By willing, by believing Rufinus, in the
Exposition of the Creed, on the Remission of sins:
“The Pagans are wont to say in derision of us, that we deceive
ourselves in thinking that crimes which have been committed in deed can
be washed out by words.”. What can
be shorter than this? But if, while thy lips declare thee
willing, thy heart be silent, He knoweth the heart, who judgeth
thee. Cease from this day from every evil deed. Let not thy
tongue speak unseemly words, let thine eye abstain from sin, and from
roving The reading in the
Benedictine Edition, μηδὲ ὁ νοῦς
σου
ῥεμβέσθω, has little
authority, and is quite unsuitable. See below, τὸ βλέμμα
ῥεμβόμενον. after things unprofitable.