Cyril then quotes our Lord’s words,
Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God, and explains them thus: “On the one
hand he who is being baptized (βαπτιζόμενος)
with the water, but has not had the Spirit vouchsafed to him
(καταξιωθείς),
has not the grace in perfection: on the other hand, even if a man
be distinguished for virtue in his deeds, but does not receive the seal
bestowed by means of water (τὴν
δι᾽ ὕδατος
σφραγῖδα), he
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Canon Mason,
whose translation I have followed, finds here a reference both to
Baptism and to Unction as “the first baptismal act and the
second,” and in support of this interpretation gives a second and
more emphatic version: “He who is in course of being
baptized with the water, but has not yet had the Spirit vouchsafed to
him, has not the grace in perfection.” This introduction of
the word “yet,” in order to represent a distinction
between two separate acts, is not justified either by the reading of
the older editions (οὐδὲ
τῷ ὕδατι
βαπτιζόμενος
μὴ
καταξιωθεὶς
δὲ τοῦ
Πνεύματος), nor by
that of Codices Monac. Roe, Casaub. adopted by Reischl (οὔτε ὁ
βεβαπτισμένος
κ.τ.λ.), nor by the Benedictine text
(οὔτε ὁ
βαπτιζόμενος
κ.τ.λ.). The obvious meaning of the
passage, with either reading, is that “the man who in Baptism did
not receive the Holy Spirit, has not the grace (of Baptism)
complete.” The Benedictine Editor in his elaborate argument
for regarding Chrism as a distinct sacrament Dissert. iii. c.
8.”, does not even refer to this
passage.