Mercy, Sin And Forgiveness

Nemo se fallat, nemo se decipiat. Solus Dominus misereri potest. Veniam peccatis quae in ipsum commissa sunt, solus potest ille largiri qui peccata nostra portavit, qui pro nobis doluit, quem Deus tradidit pro peccatis nostris. Homo Deo esse non potest major; nec remittere aut donare indulgentia sua servus potest, quod in Dominum delicto graviore commissum est, ne adhuc lapso et hoc accedat ad crimen si nesciat esse praedictum: Maledictus homo qui spem habet in homine. Dominus orandus est, Dominus nostra satisfactione placandus est, qui negantem negare se dixit, qui omne judicium de Patre solus accepit. Credimus quidem posse apud judicem plurimum martyrum merita et opera justorum, sed cum judicii dies venerit, cum, post occasum saeculi hujus et mundi, ante tribunal Christi populus ejus adstiterit. Caeterum, si quis, praepropera festinatione temerarius remissionem peccatorum dare, se cunctis putat posse, aut audet Domini praecepta rescindere, non tantum nihil prodest sed et obest lapsis. Provocasse est iram, non servasse sententiam, nec misericordiam prius Dei deprecandam putare, sed contempto Domino de sua facultate praesumere. Sanctus Cyprianus, Liber De Lapsis Source: Migne PL 4.480a-b

Let no one deceive himself, let no one cheat himself. The Lord alone can have mercy. Forgiveness for sins which have been committed against Himself He alone can give, He who bore our sins, who sorrowed for us, whom God delivered up for our sins. Man cannot be greater than God, nor can a servant dismiss or allow by his indulgence what has been committed by a greater crime against the Lord, lest even this be added to the sin of the lapsed, if he is ignorant that it has been said: 'Cursed the man who hopes in man.' 1 The Lord must be petitioned. The Lord must be satisfied by our atonement, He who has said that he who denies Him He will deny, He who alone has received all judgment from His Father. 2 We believe, indeed, that the merits of martyrs and the works of the righteous are worth much before the Judge, but that will be when the day of judgment comes, when after the end of this life and the world His people stand before the tribunal of Christ. But if someone, in precipitate haste, rashly thinks that he can give remission of sins to all, or dares to revoke the commands of the Lord, not only does it not benefit the lapsed, but it even does them harm. Not to have observed His judgment is to have provoked His anger, and also to think that the mercy of God must not first be entreated, and, in scorn of the Lord, to presume on His power. Saint Cyprian of Carthage, On The Lapsed 1 Jerem 17.5 2 Mt 10.33, Jn 5.22