Miscellanies 2.18.91

Does not the law now appear humane and kind, the law that is a schoolmaster to Christ, and God the same, good with justice, from the beginning to the end dealing with each generation fittingly for salvation? “Show mercy,” says the Lord, “that you may be shown mercy; forgive, that you may be forgiven; as you do, so it will be done to you; as you give, so it will be given to you; as you judge, so you will be judged; as you show kindness, so kindness will be shown to you; with the measure you measure, it will be measured back to you.” Further, it forbids dishonoring those who serve for their food, and gives those enslaved for debts a complete release in the seventh year. It also forbids handing over suppliants for punishment. More than anything, then, that oracle is true: “As gold and silver are tested in the furnace, so the Lord chooses the hearts of men.” And “the merciful man is long-suffering,” and “in everyone who takes thought there is wisdom”; for “care will fall on a man of understanding,” and, being thoughtful, “he will seek life”; and “the one who seeks God will find knowledge with righteousness, and those who have sought him rightly have found peace.”