Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol I:
CLEMENT OF ROME: Chapter VIII.—Continuation...

Chapter VIII.—Continuation respecting repentance.

The ministers of the grace of God have, by the Holy Spirit, spoken of repentance; and the Lord of all things has himself declared with an oath regarding it, “As I live, saith the Lord, I desire not the death of the sinner, but rather his repentance;” 38 adding, moreover, this gracious declaration, “Repent, O house of Israel, of your iniquity. 39 Say to the children of My people, Though your sins reach from earth to heaven, I and though they be redder 40 than scarlet, and blacker than sackcloth, yet if ye turn to Me with your whole heart, and say, Father! I will listen to you, as to a holy 41 people.” And in another place He speaks thus: “Wash you, and become clean; put away the wickedness of your souls from before mine eyes; cease from your evil ways, and learn to do well; seek out judgment, deliver the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and see that justice is done to the widow; and come, and let us reason together. He declares, Though your sins be like crimson, I will make them white as snow; though they be like scarlet, I will whiten them like wool. And if ye be willing and obey Me, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye refuse, and will not hearken unto Me, the sword shall devour you, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken these things.” 42 Desiring, therefore, that all His beloved should be partakers of repentance, He has, by His almighty will, established [these declarations].

Footnotes

Ezek. xxxiii. 11.

Ezek. xviii. 30.

Comp. Isa. i. 18.

These words are not found in Scripture, though they are quoted again by Clem. Alex. (Pædag., i. 10) as from Ezekiel.

Isa. i. 16-20.