God promises forgiveness through repentance

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Tertullian is addressing the sinner directly, arguing that the same God who appointed punishment for sins has also promised forgiveness through repentance.

So the same God who has appointed punishment by judgment for every sin, whether of flesh or spirit, whether in act or in will, has also promised forgiveness through repentance. He says to his people: "Repent, and I will save you." And again he says: "As I live, says the Lord, I desire repentance rather than death." Repentance, then, is life, since it is preferred to death.

You, sinner like me, no, less than me, for I acknowledge my own preeminence in sins, seize it and embrace it as a shipwrecked man seizes the solidity of some plank. It will lift you up when you are drowning in the waves of sin and carry you forward into the harbor of divine mercy. Snatch the chance of unexpected happiness: you who were once nothing before God but a drop of a bucket, dust of the threshing floor, a potter's little vessel, become from then on that tree which is planted by the waters, remains green in its leaves, and bears fruit in its season, which will see neither fire nor axe. Let repentance follow the discovery of truth after error; let it repent of having loved what God does not love, since we ourselves do not even allow our own servants to fail to hate the things that offend us. For the principle of obedience is established in likeness of minds.

The good of repentance could be set out at length, and this great theme deserves eloquence. But I, within my narrow limits, press one point upon you: what God commands is good and best. I consider it audacity to debate the goodness of a divine command. We should not obey because it is good, but because God has commanded it. For the performance of obedience, the majesty of divine power comes first; the authority of the one who commands comes before the advantage of the one who serves.

Is it good to repent or not? Why do you turn it over? God commands it. And he does not merely command, he also urges. He invites with a reward: salvation. Even swearing, saying "As I live," he desires to be believed. O how blessed we are, for whose sake God swears! O how wretched, if we do not believe the Lord even when he swears! What God so earnestly commends, what he testifies even in human fashion under an oath, we must undertake and guard with the utmost seriousness, so that as we remain in the assertion of divine grace we may likewise persevere in its fruit and benefit.

Latin

Omnibus ergo delictis seu carne seu spiritu seu facto seu voluntate commissis qui poenam per iudicium destinavit, idem et veniam per paenitentiam spopondit, dicens ad populum, Paenitere, et salvum faciam te. Et iterum, Vivo, inquit, dominus, et paenitentiam malo quam mortem. Ergo paenitentia vita est, cum praeponitur morti. Eam tu peccator, mei similis (immo me minor, ego enim praestantiam in delictis meam agnosco), ita invade, ita amplexare, ut naufragus alicuius tabulae fidem. Haec te peccatorum fluctibus mersum prolevabit et in portum divinae clementiae protelabit. Rape occasionem inopinatae felicitatis, ut ille tu nihil quondam penes deum nisi stilla situlae et areae pulvis et vasculum figuli arbor exinde fias illa quae penes aquas seritur et in foliis perennat et tempore suo fructus agit, quae non ignem, non securem videbit. Paeniteat errorum reperta veritate, paeniteat amasse quae deus non amat, quando ne nos quidem ipsi servulis nostris ea quibus offendimur non odisse permittimus. Obsequii enim ratio in similitudine animorum constituta est. De bono paenitentiae enumerando diffusa et pro hoc magno eloquio committenda materia est Nos vero pro nostris angustiis unum inculcamus, bonum atque optimum esse quod deus praecipit. Audaciam existimo de bono divini praecepti disputare. Neque enim quia bonum est, idcirco auscultare debemus, sed quia deus praecepit. Ad exhibitionem obsequii prior est maiestas divinae potestatis, prior est auctoritas imperantis quam utilitas servientis. Bonum est paenitere, an non? Quid revolvis? deus praecipit. At enim ille non praecipit tantum, sed etiam hortatur. Invitat praemio, salute; iurans etiam, Vivo, dicens, cupit credi sibi. O beatos nos, quorum causa deus iurat! O miserrimos, si nec iuranti domino credimus! Quod igitur deus tantopere commendat, quod etiam humano more sub deieratione testatur, summa utique gravitate et aggredi et custodire debemus, ut in asseveratione divinae gratiae permanentes in fructu quoque eius et emolumento proinde perseverare possimus.

About this text

Tertullian teaches what true repentance is, and warns Christians not to put it off or treat it lightly.

Tertullian (c. 155–c. 220) wrote this treatise for Christians, especially newcomers beginning to hear divine teaching. He wrote to correct pagan misunderstandings of repentance and to warn believers against presumption that delays or cheapens it. His purpose was to instruct the church on the true nature and discipline of repentance as ordained by God.

The occasion is pastoral instruction within the church. Tertullian argues that repentance must be directed only toward sins, never toward good deeds, and that those who repent must not return to sin, since doing so insults God and exalts the devil. He warns newcomers not to presume on coming forgiveness by delaying repentance. For those who sin after baptism, God grants one further repentance, which must be carried out through public confession, a discipline of confession and humiliation that restores the sinner to God.

A reader will meet John the Baptist, who preached repentance before the Lord's coming, and Adam, the first human, whose sin brought condemnation and who was restored by public confession. Tertullian also cites Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king restored after seven years of penitential humiliation, and Pharaoh, the Egyptian ruler who rejected repentance and perished in the sea. God's words are quoted directly, as are John the Baptist's, and Tertullian argues against imagined objectors who raise rhetorical questions. Tertullian uses the Old Latin version of Scripture, which follows the Septuagint for book names and Psalm numbering, so LXX Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 in modern numbering.

New English from the Latin base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from Quinti Septimii Florentis Tertulliani Quae Supersunt Omnia Tertullian Franz Oehler T. O. Weigel Leipzig 1853 (Latin)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.