Against Celsus 3.71

After this he assumes for himself what is not granted by those who believe more rationally, though perhaps it is held by some foolish people: that God, like those who are slaves to pity, is himself a slave to the pity of those who lament, relieves the wicked, and rejects the good who do nothing of the kind, which is most unjust. For in our view God relieves no wicked man who has not yet turned toward virtue, and rejects no one who is already good; nor does he relieve or have mercy on anyone who laments merely because he laments, to use “mercy” in a more common sense. But those who have strongly condemned themselves for their sins, so that on this account they as it were mourn and lament themselves as lost, as far as their former deeds are concerned, and who show a notable change, God accepts for the sake of their repentance, even those who come by change from the worst life. For virtue, coming to dwell in their souls and having driven out the wickedness that occupied them before, grants such people an amnesty. And even if not virtue, but notable progress takes place in the soul, this too, in proportion to its degree of progress, is enough to drive out and wipe away the flood of wickedness, so that it is nearly no longer in the soul.