The Incurable Evil of the Wicked Spirits

For a spiritual substance, one not bound to any material flesh, has no excuse for an evil thought that arises within it, and this also shuts out forgiveness for its sin. It is not harassed, as we are, by the incitements of the flesh from outside to sin, but is simply inflamed by the fault of a perverse will. And so its sin is without forgiveness, and its weakness without remedy. For as it falls through the lure of no earthly matter, so it can find no pardon and no room for repentance. From this we can plainly gather that this struggle of the flesh and the spirit against each other, which arises in us, is not merely harmless but actually extremely useful to us.