Sin and Repentance - Does God forgive those who repent and ask for forgiveness - every time?

Question

I'm curious - if one screws up a bit and sins - and asks for forgiveness, after repenting of said sin earlier - does God forgive them every time?

I know Jesus died on the cross for our sins...but what about God forgiving sins?

Answer 1

I believe that God will forgive you every time you repent with sincerity and with true intent.  He knows that some sins and habits take longer to overcome, and he allows us the time to truly repent of them.

Although, he does not take away the consequences that naturally will follow the sin we commit.  For example,  a person commits adultery.  After awhile, he comes to his senses and wants to repent.  He confesses his sin to God, his wife, and his religious leaders.  He doesn't do it again and truly repents.  God forgives him.  The natural consequences might be though that his marriage fails, or that he hurts innocent people such as his children and wife with his actions.  Lost trust and lost opportunities might also be consequences.  That is why it is said that it is much easier to not sin in the first place.

I do not believe in death bed repentance though.  It is not sincere.  God knows the intent of our hearts. If we truly have a desire to change and repent, we have the ability and capacity to really change. Without the deep down true desire to change we will not ever succeed. I believe repentance requires true change.  God is willing to forgive us but who knows how much time we actually have to repent. Life is short and no one knows what tomorrow will bring so we should not put off repenting.

Answer 2

Actually I'm pretty sure he never existed

Answer 3

Yes!  The Bible tells us that God will forgive us for the same sin seventy-seven times seven times.  His love and forgiveness of us is AMAZING isn't it?  Blessings to you!

Answer 4

Hey!

Only if you GENUINELY regret that sin. It cannot be false pretense, or a simple formality. It has to be real repentance.

Hebrew 10:26-27 reads: "For if we practice sin willfully after having received the accurate knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins left, but [there is] a certain fearful expectation of judgment and [there is] a fiery jealousy that is going to consume those in opposition."

But there is good news! God is merciful, and he understands when we transgress. He will not lord his perfection over us, because he knows well of what we are made.

1 John 3:19-22 reads: "By this we shall know that we originate with the truth, and we shall assure our hearts before him as regards whatever our hearts may condemn us in, because God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. Beloved ones, if [our] hearts do not condemn [us], we have freeness of speech toward God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we are observing his commandments and are doing the things that are pleasing in his eyes." (Also comforting are the scriptures found at Psalms 103:8-14; 130:3 and Philippians 4:4-6)

That is always something to look forward to! I hope all that helps! Have a great day!

Luv ya,

Tashi :)

Answer 5

Yes he does. But the Sacrament of Reconciliation is necessary for forgiveness. Baptism (for those who know about this Sacrament) is required to erase the stain of original sin. The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. All sins committed after Baptism must be forgiven. The answer given by Chris is incorrect. "Believing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ" has nothing to do with forgiveness of sins.

EDIT...Most Christians don't want to hear the truth about salvation and forgiveness.

Answer 6

if you are sincere and wanting to really change the behaviour.sometimes it can be hard and make the same one over and over, but someday you will get it. keep in mind what you have asked forgiveness for and try not to do it again.

Answer 7

Nobody can possibly know for sure, until Judgment Day ... except for Catholics ... who have the benefit of the sacrament of reconciliation ... which provides the absolute assurance of forgiveness ... right here and right now.

In fact, the first thing Jesus did after he rose again from the dead was give the apostles (and their duly ordained successors) the power to forgive sins in his name.

Now you know why.

http://douglawrence.wordpress.com/

p.s. Chris isn't all that bright. He just thinks he is.

  

Answer 8

repent means to change and not Sin again.

So unless you really change then the Sin is not forgiven.

Answer 9

So it says in 1 John 1:9; ' ... if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'

Answer 10

yes..God never gets tired of forgiving...just always seek for His mercy.

:D

Answer 11

Sin isn't real...

Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree... yeah, makes perfect sense.

Answer 12

Chris while well meaning is not accurate in his definition of repentance.  To be forgiven your sins you must make be genuine in your regret for having committed them and resolve to not commit it again.  That doesn't mean that you won't commit the very same sins again - but it is your intention when turning to Christ that is important.  

If we follow Chris' logic one could do anything they liked and still be saved - this means as long as you believe the Gospel message that one time when you accept Christ then from that moment you could go out raping, murdering, and doing anything else you wanted and God would still welcome you with open arms.  This view of salvation (once saved always saved) is flawed because God is Just and would not allow such an injustice to occur.

Answer 13

a rightous man falls seven times .....

.

.The meaning of this saying in the bible is that the number seven is a symbolic number of completion meaning in this case that if one falls and repents and falls and repents etc etc then there will come a point where the one will take hold of the promises of God and the cycle will be broken.and the one will not fall no more.....in contrast to the sinner who repents and falls as a way of life...

Jesus says you must forgive your brothers sinning against you 7 times 70.....or symbolically multiplying a number by a number especially the number 7 is a way of saying infinitely.......

.

.this is all in the context of one who falls and repents is guniune and is simply lacking courage of faith and or understanding not one who is counting on mercy of God so he says ...oh well i;ll sin  again wilfully cause i know i can start over again etc.....remember if you are a brother you are strongly desiring to honor God not your own will AND FLESHLY DESIRES

Answer 14

Jesus did not die that you continue to sin. Jesus forgives is identical to God forgives sins if sinner asks forgiveness (not to a priest but directly to God) and amends his/her mistakes and stops doing wrong. Not that assumes Jesus no matter what forgives sins. If this was true concept of sin becomes a mockery. Jesus specified in Bible conditions for forgiveness. Those are the criteria not the ones said to you by a priest who asks for money to intervene for you to Jesus/God to forgive you! Also many many things that priests in last several centuries told people were sins were indeed to charge them money to intervene for forgiveness. These priests until recently were having all brides at the first night of wedding for themselves claiming that this way the family would be blessed. Are you ready to have your bride at wedding night sleeps with the priest to become blessed?

Answer 15

I wasn't going to say "sin isn't real" because I know its just part of that storyline you believe in anyway.

But I think in that story, God created a pretty messed up world, what if the person gets killed before he has time to repent? Even worse, killed by an atheist..?

Lol, atheists can control who goes to h**l?

Answer 16

When you believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then you are forgiven ALL SINS past, present, and future.  ALL.

Repentance simply means a change of mind from unbelief to belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Repentance does NOT mean "turning from sin".

"Turning from sin" cannot save and is not required for salvation.  If "turning frmo sin" were required for salvation, then NOBODY would be saved, because all believers are still sinners.

Believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and you are forgiven all sins past, present, and future.  Salvation is by FAITH ALONE in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is this:  The truth is that the only way to be saved and to get into heaven and avoid being sent to eternal h**l is by believing in faith alone that Jesus, who is God, died for our sins on the cross and rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Believe this and you are saved!

Please pray now: "Jesus, please forgive me of my sins. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and You rose from the dead. Thank You for eternal life!" You will be in heaven with Him forever when you die :)

Answer 17

Yes. When Christ died on the cross he paid the debt for all sins committed by the children of God; past, present and future.

As Charles Spurgeon so eloquently puts it:

"Then notice that God has forgiven us continuously. He not only forgave us at the first all our sins, but he continues daily to forgive, for the act of forgiveness is a continuous one. I have sometimes heard it said that we were so forgiven when we first believed that there is no need to ask for further forgiveness; to which I reply—We were so completely forgiven when we first believed that we ought continually to ask for the perpetuity of that one far-reaching act, that the Lord may continue to exert towards us that fulness of forgiving grace which absolved us perfectly at the first, that we may continue to walk before him with a sense of that complete forgiveness, clear and unquestioned. I know I was forgiven when first I believed in Christ; and I am equally sure of it now: the one absolution continues to ring in my ears like joy-bells which never cease. Pardon once given continues to be given. When through doubt and anxiety I was not sure of my pardon, yet it was still true; for he that believeth on him is not condemned, even though he may write bitter things against himself. Beloved friend, catch hold of that, and do not let it go. Divine pardon is a continuous act."

I will keep you in my prayers.

Answer 18

Jesus is God. Hard to understand even for me but I still believe. And yes God does forgive every time even though we don't deserve it. But to deliberately do something over and over and just think, "God will forgive me." is not right. He still forgives but He sees our hearts and knows where we are. God sent His one and only son Jesus for us because He loves us. He didn't want us not to be near Him. That was not His plan. So He sent Jesus to die in our place so all we need to do when we s***w up is talk to God and ask for forgiveness genuinely. God knows we are going to mess up. But He never will stop loving us.  

Answer 19

Well, you are getting at something that leads to understanding the great eternal truths of the universe.  Keep on that path and you will learn a great deal about who you are and where you ought to be.  

In regards to the question, you can look at it two ways- the standard christian way and the way I believe god intended it.

Christians will tell you say your sorry and its all gone, no problem repeating it, just do your best.

But repentence means to bring about a change.  So although certainly Christ is willing to forgive you for past errors as many times as it takes to get it right, he is said to save us from our sins, not in our sins.  He told us to be perfect as our father in heaven is perfect.  He didnt say to do what you can or what is easy.

In order for the atonement to really wipe it all clean- you have to eventually reach a point where you have stopped sinning (become perfect) and then look back and feel bad for what you have done and want to make things better.  

Sin basically means to deviate from the way or to miss the point/ mark.  So even in keeping the laws you can miss the point or sin.  Thats why the law of moses was fulfilled in Christ-  The rules didnt go away, they just became enlarged.  

Think about it, what is REALLY good and what is really bad?  It changes at different times right?  Going to church this week is great, but maybe next week you were supposed to go and save a baby from a burning house.  So how do you know?  Because in not knowing, you are deviating from the plan of God or in other words- sinning.  

Luke 18: 1

Luke 21: 36

Acts 10: 2

Eph. 6: 18