What Did Clement of Rome Teach About Salvation? 1 Clement

• Text: 1 Clement 7, a letter from the church at Rome to the church at Corinth, usually dated to around 95–96 A.D.
• Topic: How 1 Clement describes salvation being received: repentance and supplication, grounded in the blood of Christ.
• Key Greek phrase: ἐξιλάσαντο τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύσαντες (7.7), “they obtained God’s mercy by supplicating him”.
• Core claim: In 1 Clement 7, the Ninevites repent, supplicate God, and receive salvation “although they were strangers to God”. Clement repeats this pattern of supplication and God becoming merciful at 2.3, 9.1 and 48.1.
• Key texts: 1 Clement 2.3, 7.4–7, 9.1 and 48.1; Luke 18:13–14; Hebrews 5:7.
• Sources: The Greek text of 1 Clement (Lightfoot; Lake); Strong’s numbers from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.

1 Clement 7 moves from the blood of Christ (7.4), to the “place of repentance” God gives in every generation (7.5), to two examples: Noah’s preaching (7.6) and the Ninevites, who obtained salvation by supplicating God (7.7). This study looks at the Greek words that show how, in this chapter, salvation is received: through repentance and petition, the basis (not the object) of which in the blood of Christ.

The Greek Text (1 Clement 7)

7.1 Ταῦτα, ἀγαπητοί, οὐ μόνον ὑμᾶς νουθετοῦντες ἐπιστέλλομεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑαυτοὺς ὑπομιμνῄσκοντες· ἐν γὰρ τῷ αὐτῷ ἐσμὲν σκάμματι, καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἡμῖν ἀγὼν ἐπίκειται.

7.2 Διὸ ἀπολείπωμεν τὰς κενὰς καὶ ματαίας φροντίδας, καὶ ἔλθωμεν ἐπὶ τὸν εὐκλεῆ καὶ σεμνὸν τῆς παραδόσεως ἡμῶν κανόνα,

7.3 καὶ ἴδωμεν τί καλὸν καὶ τί τερπνὸν καὶ τί προσδεκτὸν ἐνώπιον τοῦ ποιήσαντος ἡμᾶς.

7.4 ἀτενίσωμεν εἰς τὸ αἷμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ γνῶμεν ὡς ἔστιν τίμιον τῷ Θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν ἐκχυθὲν παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ μετανοίας χάριν ὑπήνεγκεν.

7.5 διέλθωμεν εἰς τὰς γενεὰς πάσας καὶ καταμάθωμεν ὅτι ἐν γενεᾷ καὶ γενεᾷ μετανοίας τόπον ἔδωκεν ὁ δεσπότης τοῖς βουλομένοις ἐπιστραφῆναι ἐπ’ αὐτόν.

7.6 Νῶε ἐκήρυξεν μετάνοιαν, καὶ οἱ ὑπακούσαντες ἐσώθησαν.

7.7 Ἰωνᾶς Νινευίταις καταστροφὴν ἐκήρυξεν, οἱ δὲ μετανοήσαντες ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασιν αὐτῶν ἐξιλάσαντο τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύσαντες καὶ ἔλαβον σωτηρίαν, καίπερ ἀλλότριοι τοῦ Θεοῦ ὄντες.

1. The Basis: The Blood of Christ (7.4)

ἀτενίσωμεν (ἀτενίζω, Strong’s G816), “let us fix our eyes”. An aorist hortatory subjunctive: a call to look steadily at one object. The object is not the readers’ conduct but “the blood of Christ”. The chapter’s argument about salvation begins with what Christ has done.

αἷμα (Strong’s G129), “blood”, and ἐκχυθέν (ἐκχέω, Strong’s G1632), “having been poured out”. ἐκχυθέν is an aorist passive participle agreeing with αἷμα: the blood that was shed. ἐκχέω is the verb of the Last Supper, “my blood … which is shed (ἐκχυννόμενον) for many” (Matthew 26:28).

τίμιον (τίμιος, Strong’s G5093), “precious”. The same adjective as 1 Peter 1:19, “with the precious (τιμίῳ) blood of Christ”. The blood’s worth is measured by its value to God.

διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν, “for the sake of our salvation” (σωτηρία, Strong’s G4991). διά with the accusative gives the reason the blood was shed: our salvation is the purpose of Christ’s death.

μετανοίας χάριν (χάρις, Strong’s G5485), “the grace of repentance”. Repentance is called a χάρις, a gift of grace, and the blood is what brought it “to the whole world” (παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ). Repentance is not presented as a human achievement that earns salvation, but as a gift made available by Christ’s blood.

ὑπήνεγκεν (ὑποφέρω, Strong’s G5297), “brought, won”. The aorist active indicative has the blood as its subject: the blood itself brought the grace of repentance to the world. Lightfoot translates it “won for the whole world the grace of repentance”.

2. The Offer: A Place of Repentance (7.5)

μετανοίας τόπον (τόπος, Strong’s G5117), “a place of repentance”. τόπος here means an opportunity or opening. The same phrase is used of Esau in Hebrews 12:17 (μετανοίας γὰρ τόπον οὐχ εὗρεν, “he found no place of repentance”) and of God in Wisdom 12:10 (ἐδίδους τόπον μετανοίας, “you gave a place of repentance”). It is something God gives, not something people create.

ἔδωκεν ὁ δεσπότης (δίδωμι; δεσπότης, Strong’s G1203), “the Master gave”. God is the subject and the giver. δεσπότης, “Master”, stresses his sovereign right to grant or withhold mercy.

ἐν γενεᾷ καὶ γενεᾷ, “in generation after generation”. The offer is not limited to one covenant or people. It is repeated in every generation, which is why the examples that follow (Noah, Nineveh) come from before and outside Israel.

τοῖς βουλομένοις (βούλομαι, Strong’s G1014), “to those who are willing”. A dative present participle naming the recipients: the place of repentance is given to those who want to turn. The condition is a willing turning, not a prior rite or work.

ἐπιστραφῆναι ἐπ’ αὐτόν (ἐπιστρέφω, Strong’s G1994), “to turn to him”. An aorist passive infinitive. ἐπιστρέφω is the standard New Testament word for conversion, as in Acts 3:19, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted (μετανοήσατε οὖν καὶ ἐπιστρέψατε)”. The turning is “to him”: it is directed to a person, God.

3. The Response: Heeding the Preaching (7.6–7.7)

ἐκήρυξεν (κηρύσσω, Strong’s G2784), “preached”. Both examples begin with a proclamation: Noah preached repentance (7.6), and Jonah preached destruction (7.7). Salvation comes in answer to a message heard.

οἱ ὑπακούσαντες (ὑπακούω, Strong’s G5219), “those who heeded”. ὑπακούω is built from ἀκούω, “to hear”, and means to listen and respond. Here the thing heeded is Noah’s preaching of repentance: those who responded to the call to repent were saved.

ἐσώθησαν (σῴζω, Strong’s G4982), “they were saved”. An aorist passive. The hearers do not save themselves; they are saved.

μετανοήσαντες ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασιν αὐτῶν (μετανοέω, Strong’s G3340; ἁμάρτημα, Strong’s G265), “having repented of their sins”. An aorist participle: the Ninevites’ repentance comes first, and the main verbs that follow (“they propitiated … and received”) describe what happened next.

4. Supplication: How the Ninevites Obtained Salvation (7.7)

ἐξιλάσαντο τὸν Θεόν (ἐξιλάσκομαι), “they appeased God, obtained his mercy”. An aorist middle indicative of ἐξιλάσκομαι, a strengthened form of ἱλάσκομαι (Strong’s G2433). ἐξιλάσκομαι is not in the New Testament, so it has no Strong’s number of its own. ἱλάσκομαι is the verb of the tax collector’s prayer in Luke 18:13, “God be merciful (ἱλάσθητί) to me a sinner”, after which Jesus says “this man went down to his house justified” (18:14). Lightfoot translates Clement’s phrase “obtained pardon of God”.

ἱκετεύσαντες (ἱκετεύω), “by supplicating, by entreating”. An aorist participle of means: it explains how the Ninevites obtained God’s mercy. They did it by supplicating him. Lightfoot translates “by their supplications”. ἱκετεύω is not in the New Testament; its noun ἱκετηρία (Strong’s G2428) appears in Hebrews 5:7, where Christ “offered up prayers and supplications (ἱκετηρίας)”. The word describes a suppliant who comes with nothing to offer but a plea for mercy.

ἔλαβον σωτηρίαν (λαμβάνω, Strong’s G2983; σωτηρία, Strong’s G4991), “they received salvation”. λαμβάνω, “receive”, presents salvation as something taken from God’s hand. The same word, σωτηρία, closes the circle opened in 7.4, where the blood was shed “for our salvation”.

καίπερ ἀλλότριοι τοῦ Θεοῦ ὄντες (ἀλλότριος, Strong’s G245), “although they were strangers to God”. καίπερ with a participle is concessive: “even though”. The Ninevites had no covenant, no law and no sacrament, yet they received salvation by repenting and supplicating. The phrase recalls Ephesians 2:12–13, where those who were “aliens” and “without God in the world” are “made nigh by the blood of Christ”.

5. The Same Vocabulary Elsewhere in 1 Clement

Clement uses the language of supplication (ἱκετεύω, ἱκέτης) together with the language of God becoming merciful (ἵλεως, Strong’s G2436) at key points in the letter. Each time, the pattern of 7.7 reappears.

2.3 … ἐξετείνετε τὰς χεῖρας ὑμῶν πρὸς τὸν παντοκράτορα θεόν, ἱκετεύοντες αὐτὸν ἵλεων γενέσθαι, εἴ τι ἄκοντες ἡμάρτετε.

Literally: “you stretched out your hands to the Almighty God, supplicating him to become merciful, if you had sinned in anything unwillingly.” The Corinthians’ past practice when they sinned was to supplicate God for mercy.

9.1 Διὸ ὑπακούσωμεν τῇ μεγαλοπρεπεῖ καὶ ἐνδόξῳ βουλήσει αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἱκέται γενόμενοι τοῦ ἐλέους καὶ τῆς χρηστότητος αὐτοῦ προσπέσωμεν καὶ ἐπιστρέψωμεν ἐπὶ τοὺς οἰκτιρμοὺς αὐτοῦ…

Literally: “Therefore let us obey his magnificent and glorious will, and, becoming suppliants (ἱκέται) of his mercy and goodness, let us fall down before him (προσπέσωμεν, Strong’s G4363) and turn (ἐπιστρέψωμεν) to his compassions.” Coming right after chapters 7 and 8, this is Clement’s own application of the Ninevite example to his readers: become suppliants, fall down, and turn.

48.1 Ἐξάρωμεν οὖν τοῦτο ἐν τάχει καὶ προσπέσωμεν τῷ δεσπότῃ καὶ κλαύσωμεν ἱκετεύοντες αὐτόν, ὅπως ἵλεως γενόμενος ἐπικαταλλαγῇ ἡμῖν…

Literally: “Let us therefore root this out quickly, and fall down before the Master and weep, supplicating him, that he may become merciful and be reconciled to us.” The same three elements as 7.7 appear together: supplication (ἱκετεύοντες), God becoming merciful (ἵλεως, the root of ἐξιλάσκομαι), and reconciliation.

Summary

In 1 Clement 7, the blood of Christ is the ground of salvation and brings “the grace of repentance” to the whole world (7.4). God gives a “place of repentance” in every generation to those willing to turn to him (7.5). The model case is Nineveh: having repented, the Ninevites obtained God’s mercy by supplicating him and received salvation, though they were strangers to God (7.7). Clement repeats this pattern of repentance, supplication and God becoming merciful in 2.3, 9.1 and 48.1, each time addressed to his own readers.

Sources

Greek text of 1 Clement: Lightfoot’s edition (1869), corrected from the Jerusalem codex and the ancient versions; parallels from Kirsopp Lake’s edition (1912), as corrected by the Open Apostolic Fathers project.

J. B. Lightfoot, translation of 1 Clement, in The Apostolic Fathers (1891).