"Last state is worse than the first"

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I can’t remember the exact wording, in respect to the particular translations, so I am not finding this verse. Can someone please tell me what passage it is where Christ speaks about the man sweeping his house (his interior life) and the demon, upon returning, finds it swept clean, and brings back seven others more wicked than he, and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

As a bonus question 😃 , can someone tell me if Christ is saying that, though we can be cleansed or purge ourselves of sin, if we do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we will not only return to our sinfulness, but will return with a vengeance?
 
Matthew 12:44-45

I do not know the newer to your question:shrug:
 
Man, as long as he is in the flesh, always has the option to turn back away from the life of Grace. Salvation is not guaranteed because we continue in our free will until death.

For example, if one is exorcised of a demon, then the demon is indeed evicted, but one must take care to keep those nasty critters away by adhering to Christ by means of the Holy Spirit and not returning to a life of sin especially grave sin which re-opens doors to unclean spirits that would have otherwise remained closed.
 
ahs said:
can someone tell me if Christ is saying that, though we can be cleansed or purge ourselves of sin, if we do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we will not only return to our sinfulness, but will return with a vengeance?
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The Catena Aurea gives several interpretations, and that is not one of them. How can someone be cleansed of sin, and not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in him? Or do you mean that the person in question falls into mortal sin? St. Augustine says:

“He taketh unto him other seven,” is to be understood that when any has fallen from righteousness … he will not only have the seven vices which are the contraries of the spiritual virtues, but will hypocritically feign that he has the virtues, therefore his old lust, taking to itself seven other worse, that is, this seven-fold hypocrisy, returns to him so as to make the last state of that man worse than the former.
 
=ahs;12465553]I can’t remember the exact wording, in respect to the particular translations, so I am not finding this verse. Can someone please tell me what passage it is where Christ speaks about the man sweeping his house (his interior life) and the demon, upon returning, finds it swept clean, and brings back seven others more wicked than he, and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
Click to expand...
As a bonus question 😃 , can someone tell me if Christ is saying that, though we can be cleansed or purge ourselves of sin, if we do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we will not only return to our sinfulness, but will return with a vengeance?
Click to expand...
I think this is what your looking for:)
Mt. 12:41-45 “41] The men of Ninive shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas. And behold a greater than Jonas here. [42] The queen of the south shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon here. [43] And when an unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places seeking rest, and findeth none. [44] Then he saith: I will return into my house from whence I came out. And coming he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. [45] Then he goeth, and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is made worse than the first. So shall it be also to this wicked generation.”

God Bless you,

Patrick
 
Thanks averyone for the replies. That answers my question about which verse I was looking for. 🙂
Ad_Orientem said:
The Catena Aurea gives several interpretations, and that is not one of them. How can someone be cleansed of sin, and not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in him? Or do you mean that the person in question falls into mortal sin? St. Augustine says:

“He taketh unto him other seven,” is to be understood that when any has fallen from righteousness … he will not only have the seven vices which are the contraries of the spiritual virtues, but will hypocritically feign that he has the virtues, therefore his old lust, taking to itself seven other worse, that is, this seven-fold hypocrisy, returns to him so as to make the last state of that man worse than the former.
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Thanks for the link and Augustine’s commentary. I’ll take a look.
Yes, I meant of a person comitted mortal sin after having been cleansed.
 
Yes, a very useful site thanks to the Dominicans in Wash. D.C. – and of course thanks to St. Thomas Aquinas.
 
'Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. It is not enough for him that he possesses the house alone; he seeks companions: the place is spacious: it needs many dwellers there. But who are these seven spirits? Why also are they seven? Why are they more wicked than himself? Because seven are the gifts of the Holy Ghost, by means of which every soul is converted to faith in Christ, and defended against the contrary evils. Therefore the unclean spirit takes unto him those seven wickeder, contrary, spirits, with which he defends the house against the virtues.

Namely, opposing the spirit of stupidity to the spirit of wisdom; the spirit of revolt and unreason to the spirit of understanding; the spirit of rashness to the spirit of counsel; the spirit of inconstancy and fear to the spirit of fortitude; the spirit of ignorance to the spirit of knowledge; the spirit of impiety to the spirit of piety; the spirit of contempt and hate to the spirit of the fear of the Lord.’

St. Bruno

Inspirational Quotes from the Saints
 
Regarding the ‘swept and clean’ and the return of evil spirits…

The way it was explained to me was that when we confess to one another, a generous portion of sins are Forgiven.

However, if one returns to their sins or if that ‘swept place’ is not filled with The Word and new thinking/behaviors, then evil again has a place to dwell.

Perhaps it has to do with the saying, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” We can’t remain ‘empty’ but will be re-filled one way or the other. Holy Spirit ‘sweeps’, but we must choose new furnishings - or not.

My perspective is influenced by AA where we have the 5th Step/‘confession to one another’. A great deal of emphasis is placed on doing a rigorously honest ‘house-cleaning’, but very little is understood about maintaining that state according to spiritual principles/rules.
 
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