The Repentant Sinner (Tolstoy)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The sinners death and arrival at heavens gates
A man lived for seventy years in sin without repentance. Even when he fell ill, he remained unrepentant. Only at the moment of death did he weep and cry out:
Lord! forgive me, as Thou forgavest the thief upon the cross.
With these words, his soul left his body.
Feeling love towards God and faith in His mercy, the sinner's soul went to the gates of heaven and knocked, praying to be admitted into the heavenly kingdom.
Peter denies entry; the sinners appeal to human weakness
A voice from within the gates asked who knocked and what deeds the man had done during his life. Another voice, that of the Accuser, replied by recounting all the man's evil deeds and not a single good one.
The voice from within declared:
Sinners cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Go hence!
The sinner asked who spoke, and learned it was Peter the Apostle.
The sinner appealed to Peter, reminding him of his own weaknesses: how he slept when Christ asked him to keep watch, how he denied Christ three times before Caiaphas, and how he wept bitterly when the cock crowed. The sinner declared that his own story was the same, and Peter could not refuse him entry. The voice behind the gates fell silent.
David refuses admission; the sinner recalls the kings sins
The sinner knocked again and heard another voice asking who he was and how he had lived. The Accuser again recounted only his evil deeds. The second voice also refused him entry, declaring that such sinners could not live in Paradise. When the sinner asked who spoke, the voice identified itself as David, king and prophet.
The sinner did not despair but appealed to King David, reminding him of God's love and his exalted position among men. He recalled how David, despite having everything - kingdom, honor, riches, wives, and children - saw the wife of a poor man from his housetop and took her, killing her husband Uriah with the sword of the Ammonites.
Thou, a rich man, didst take from the poor man his one ewe lamb, and didst kill him. I have done likewise.
The sinner reminded David how he had repented, saying 'I acknowledge my transgressions: my sin is ever before me,' and declared that he had done the same. David's voice also fell silent.
Johns initial refusal and ultimate acceptance through love
After standing a while, the sinner knocked a third time. A third voice asked who he was, and the Accuser again recounted his evil deeds without mentioning any good ones. This voice also commanded him to depart, saying sinners could not enter heaven. When asked, the voice identified itself as John the Divine, the beloved disciple of Christ.
The sinner rejoiced, believing he would surely be allowed to enter. He argued that Peter and David must let him in because they knew human weakness and God's mercy, and John must let him in because he loved much.
Was it not thou, John the Divine, who wrote that God is Love, and that he who loves not, knows not God?
The sinner reminded John how in his old age he had told men 'Brethren, love one another,' and challenged him: how could he look upon the sinner with hatred and drive him away?
Either thou must renounce what thou hast said, or loving me, must let me enter the kingdom of heaven.
And the gates of Paradise opened, and John embraced the repentant sinner and took him into the kingdom of heaven.