27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Repentance and personal judgment
Saint Makarios the Egyptian, Other 7 homilies, About the arrogance of mind , 10, in Church Fathers and Writers (1992), vol. 34, p. 318
„ (…) if someone seeing His kindness and long lasting patience doesn`t show repentance and on the contrary finds in this a reason to sin more adding sin after sin and mistake after mistake and insolence after insolence he exceeds the measure for crimes, falls into mistakes from where he can`t stand up again anymore and comes to ruin, being under the control of the devil and loses himself.`
Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, 2nd Stromata Cap. XIII, 56.1.-56.2, 57.1.-57.2., in Church Fathers and Writers (1982), vol. 5, p. 143
Who receives absolution for his sins must not sin anymore. Besides the first and only repentance for sins – repentance for the sins committed before during the first part of life during paganism or ignorance – before the chosen ones is another repentance which cleanses the soul of the committed sins to found faith. God, knowing the hearts (Acts 15, 8) and the future saw beforehand long time ago from the beginning that the man changes easily and the devil is cunning and deceitful; He knew that the devil envying the man because of the absolution of his sins, will give to the chosen of God reasons to sin, scheming with skill to cause them fall as he did. God being very patient gave a new repentance the second repentance to those who fall into sins although they are faithful so that they may have another repentance which doesn`t leave any regret (II Corinthians 7, 10), that one who after the call was tempted being forced or fooled.
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. (Hebrews 10, 26-27).”
Saint Makarios the Egyptian, Other seven homilies, About the arrogance of mind, 10, in Church Fathers and Writers (1992), vol. 34, p. 318
`God is kind, men loving and merciful and waits for a long time the repentance of each sinner. He makes a heavenly feast from the return of the sinful. For He says:
`there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.` (Luke 15, 10).”
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