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Having received the forgiveness of sins, and placed our trust in the name of the Lord, we have become new creatures, formed again from the beginning. Wherefore in our habitation God truly dwells in us. How? His word of faith; His calling of promise; the wisdom of the statutes; the commands of the doctrine; He himself prophesying in us; He himself dwelling in us; opening to us who were enslaved by death the doors of the temple, that is, the mouth; and by giving us repentance introduced us into the incorruptible temple. (ch. 16)

And you [Jews] deceive yourselves while you fancy that, because you are the seed of Abraham after the flesh, therefore you shall fully inherit the good things announced to be bestowed by God through Christ. For no one, not even of them, has anything to look for, but only those who in mind are assimilated to the faith of Abraham, and who have recognized all the mysteries: for I say, that some injunctions were laid on you in reference to the worship of God and practice of righteousness; but some injunctions and acts were likewise mentioned in reference to the mystery of Christ, on account of the hardness of your people’s hearts. And that this is so, God makes known in Ezekiel, [when] He said concerning it: "If Noah and Jacob and Daniel should beg either sons or daughters, the request would not be granted them" [Ezek. 14:20]. And in Isaiah, of the very same matter He spake thus: "The Lord God said, they shall both go forth and look on the members [of the bodies] of the men that have transgressed. For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a gazing-stock to all flesh" [Isa. 66:24]. So that it becomes you to eradicate this hope from your souls, and hasten to know in what way forgiveness of sins, and a hope of inheriting the promised good things, shall be yours. But there is no other [way] than this: to become acquainted with this Christ, to be washed in the fountain spoken of by Isaiah for the remission of sins; and for the rest, to live sinless lives. (Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 44)

This next quote is in reference to the ritual in Leviticus 14:49-53.

By that which took place in the running water, in which the wood and the hyssop and the scarlet were dipped, is set forth the bloody passion of Christ on the cross for the salvation of those who are sprinkled with the Spirit, and the water, and the blood. Wherefore the material for purification was not provided chiefly with reference to leprosy, but with regard to the forgiveness of sins, that both leprosy might be understood to be an emblem of sin, and the things which were sacrificed an emblem of Him who was to be sacrificed for sins. ("Other Fragments from the Lost Writings of Justin" 10)

For [Jesus] called all men that mourn; and granting forgiveness to those who had been led into captivity by their sins, He loosed them from their chains, of whom Solomon says, "Everyone shall be holden with the cords of his own sins" [Prov. 5:22]. Therefore did the Spirit of God descend upon Him, [the Spirit] of him who had promised by the prophets that he would anoint him, so that we, receiving from the abundance of his unction, might be saved. (Against Heresies, Bk. III, ch. 9, par. 3)

"And with great power," it is added, "gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus" [Acts 4:33], saying to them, "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye seized and slew, hanging [him] upon a beam of wood: him hath God raised up by His right hand to be a Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are in this witnesses of these words; as also is the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that believe in him" [Acts 5:42]. (Against Heresies, Bk. III, ch. 12, par. 5)

But when his lust prompted him to take Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, the Scripture said concerning him, “Now, the thing which David had done appeared wicked in the eyes of the Lord" [2 Sam. 11:27); and Nathan the prophet is sent to him, pointing out to him his crime, in order that he, passing sentence upon and condemning himself, might obtain mercy and forgiveness from Christ ... David ... was struck with remorse on hearing this, and exclaimed, "I have sinned against the Lord;" and he sung a penitential psalm, waiting for the coming of the Lord, who washes and makes clean the man who had been fast bound with sin. (Against Heresies, Bk. IV, ch. 27, par. 1)

As I have heard from a certain presbyter, who had heard it from those who had seen the apostles, and from those who had been their disciples, the punishment in Scripture was sufficient for the ancients in regard to what they did without the Spirit’s guidance. For as God is no respecter of persons, he inflicted a proper punishment on deeds displeasing to him. ... It was for this reason, too, that the Lord descended into the regions beneath the earth, preaching his advent there also, and the remission of sins received by those who believe in him[1 Pet. 3:19-20]. Now all those believed in him, who had hope towards him, that is, those who proclaimed his advent, and submitted to his dispensations, the righteous men, the prophets, and the patriarchs, to whom he remitted sins in the same way as he did to us, which sins we should not lay to their charge, if we would not despise the grace of God. For as these men did not impute unto us [Gentiles] our transgressions, which we wrought before Christ was manifested among us, so also it is not right that we should lay blame upon those who sinned before Christ’s coming. For "all men come short of the glory of God" [Rom. 3:23] and are not justified of themselves, but by the advent of the Lord,—they who earnestly direct their eyes towards his light. (Against Heresies, Bk. IV, ch. 27, par. 1-2)

The next quote follows directly from the previous one with nothing in between.

And it is for our instruction that their actions have been committed to writing, that we might know, in the first place, that our God and theirs is one, and that sins do not please him although committed by men of renown; and in the second place, that we should keep from wickedness. For if these men of old time, who preceded us in the gifts, and for whom the Son of God had not yet suffered, when they committed any sin and served fleshly lusts, were rendered objects of such disgrace [such as Solomon falling away because his wives led him into idolatry], what shall the men of the present day suffer, who have despised the Lord’s coming, and become the slaves of their own lusts? And truly the death of the Lord became healing and remission of sins to the former, but Christ shall not die again in behalf of those who now commit sin, for death shall no more have dominion over him; but the Son shall come in the glory of the Father, requiring from his stewards and dispensers the money which he had entrusted to them, with usury [interest]; and from those to whom he had given most shall he demand most. We ought not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks, to be puffed up, nor be severe upon those of old time, but ought ourselves to fear, lest perchance, after the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but be shut out from his kingdom. And therefore it was that Paul said, "For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest he also spare not thee, who, when you were a wild olive tree, were grafted into the fatness of the olive tree, and were made a partaker of its fatness" [Rom. 11:17 & 21). (Against Heresies, Bk. IV, ch. 27, par. 2)

If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest. (unknown)

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