Verse 10.—But man, when he is dead and stripped and consumed, where, I ask, is he? 9. The sinful man dies in guilt, is stripped of righteousness, is consumed in punishment. No man is without sin, save He who came not into this world from sin. And because we are all bound in guilt, we die by that very loss of righteousness; being stripped of the garment of innocence granted at first in paradise, we are also consumed by the destruction of the flesh that follows. Thus the sinful man dies in guilt, is stripped of righteousness, is consumed in punishment. This nakedness of the sinful son the father deigned to cover, who at his returning said: Quickly bring forth the first robe (Luke 15:22).
For the first robe is the garment of innocence, which man received when he was well created, but lost when he was evilly persuaded by the serpent. Against this nakedness again it is said: Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked (Rev. 16:15). For we keep our garments when we preserve the precepts of innocence in the mind, so that when guilt strips us before the Judge, penitence may cover us as we return to our lost innocence. But it is well said: Where, I ask, is he? because the sinful man was unwilling to stand there where he was created; but here, where he fell, he is forbidden to be long. Willingly he lost his homeland, but from his pilgrimage, which he loves, he is unwillingly expelled. Where then is he who is not in the love of Him where he might truly be? It follows: