Shepherd of Hermas 53

1“I rejoiced, Sir,” I say, “when I heard this explanation.”

2“Listen now,” he says: “Keep this flesh of yours pure and undefiled, so that the spirit that dwells in it may bear witness to it, and your flesh may be justified. Watch lest it ever rise up in your heart that this flesh of yours is perishable, and you misuse it in some defilement. For if you defile your flesh, you will also defile the Holy Spirit; and if you defile the flesh, you will not live.”

3“But if, Sir,” I say, “there has been some former ignorance before these words were heard, how will the man who has defiled his flesh be saved?”

4“As to former ignorances,” he says, “God alone is able to give healing concerning them; for all authority is his. But now guard yourself, and the Lord, the Almighty—being full of compassion—will give healing for former ignorances, if from now on you do not defile your flesh or the spirit; for both are shared and cannot be defiled apart from one another. Therefore keep both pure, and you will live to God.”