7. See also Col 3:9-10.
190 SAINT AUGUSTINE - SERMONS matter of the old and the new is played out in the inner self. When the apostle said, after all, Strip yourselves of the old self and put on the new, he wasn't ordering them to lay aside the body, but to change their way of life for the better. In fact he went on next to teach this lesson clearly; wishing, I mean, to explain what he had said: Therefore, he continued, putting aside lying, speak the truth, each of you, with your neighbor (Eph 4:22-25).1 2 3 4 5 6 7
NOTES
1. The fragments come from a selection of texts made by Bede. Two of the fragments in that collection are not included here, since they reappear as section 4 of Sermon 218C below. This inevitably puts a question mark against these remaining three fragments all coming from one sermon; though presumably Bede collected them, if not from one sermon, then at least from sermons on the passion.
2. Because justified through his resurrection; see Rom 4:25. 3. See Mt 11:30.
4. God's "truth" and "mercy," here contrasted by Paul, are the basic divine attributes oihesed. and emeth in Hebrew, which always go together; are almost always translated by "mercy" and "truth" in the Latin translation and English ones influenced by it; by words like "loving-kindness" and "fidelity" in most contemporary translations. They represent the ideal attitudes of parents to their children of being both kind, loving, affectionate, compassionate; and also at the same time reliable, trustworthy: a "you-know-where-you-are-with-them-and-no-nonsense" quality.
5. See Mk 7:27-29.
6. See Rom 7:22; Eph 3:16. Paul does not talk of the outer self or man, only of the inner. 7. See also Col 3:9-10.