I've just had a disturbing conversation with a born again Christian, Christians can you help.?

Question

During voluntary work I come across a lot of people who have had problems with crime and anger. One person I met told me he had become a Christian, and that he had been forgiven his previous misdeeds-fine so far, however he went on to say that he would be forgiven if he committed further misdeeds as long as he asked forgiveness from God he would get it.
I have no interest in persuading him not to believe in the concept of God's forgiveness, if that works for him that's fine, but still I would like to be able to point out his errors in those thoughts from a Christian perspective, that's if there is an error? it certainly seemed a consistent argument he was putting forward, unfortunately he is not too bright, and I almost made up a biblical story that ended with people with those thoughts being likely to go to hell, but that would have been disingenuous in the extreme. Thanks in advance for any serious answers from Christians.

Thanks to those with sensible suggestions, they helped a lot, it looks like some consensus is that God can see into your heart, and if you haven't truly repented then you will not be forgiven, and by thinking as he does he shows he has not repented. Also thanks for the specific biblical refs
As I said the chap is not very well educated, and seems to think that repenting is simply saying sorry and addressing it to God, I don't want to be cynical but it could be that all he's sorry for is getting caught.

I can's decide on a best answer, there are so many good and thoughtful ones, so I'll leave it to voting-thanks again.

Answer 1

oh shut-up you alien from AREA 51

Answer 2

This is tough. But can someone truly repent if he plans it that way (premeditated)? I think not. Maybe the best approach would be say" since you are a Christian, then you would want to live as Jesus did. He is the example.". And show Jesus was sinless and we need to try to be too. Yes, if we sin, we can repent and be forgiven, But we still have consequences to pay. Say if the guy was caught, God would forgive him, but the guy would probably spend time behind bars. I think in this case accountability is the angle to use.

Answer 3

The problem is that Christianity puts the belief of god before being a good person, they Are not the same thing. I have heard many Christians say that a person who is genuinely good but also an atheist is doomed to hell. I'm sure you can see the problem. So many people believe but yet miss the point. Sorry but god does not come first, understanding and embracing peace is first, then everything falls into place.

Answer 4

I know you asked Christians to answer this and I am pagan, but I was a Christian for over 30 years and a minister for 25.

One way to view this , is that he is a New Christian and needs to grow. There are many passages in the bible that mentions certain type of behaviours that will keep him out of heaven and you need to get a good concordance and look these up and just have a bible handy and ask him his opinion on these scriptures..

However there are some doctrines that by nature suggests that once you have been saved, then anything goes.The Once Saved Always Saved doctrine has many in it that feel; they can do whatever they want, and will still go to heaven. There are others in this doctrine that suggest that if you keep sinning, then you were never saved to begin with.

Answer 5

It is different doing a misdeed and asking for forgiveness and not being fully concious of it at the time, but doing the misdeed and being aware that your doing it and hoping to get forgiveness is not Christian like at all, it defeats the purpose, the teachings.
He is making his own rules. A person with a concious knows that its wrong.
The right way is Love for your fellow man.. Tell the person to read the 10 Commandments.

Answer 6

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins"
These words are often quoted as the formula for salvation.
The immediate context of the Words makes it clear that John was not addressing the unsaved. You must have the Holy Spirit in you for the forgiveness.
We must understand the immediate context of the Words.
"Believers in Christ are forgiven to restore a right family relationship with God who has saved them."
In other words to commit misdeeds and ask for forgiveness as such is misinterpreted.
Forgiveness is not unconditional.
It depends on the willingness of the sinner to acknowledge and BELEIVE what God says about their sin.
Scripture CLEARLY shows that we should not and are not freely forgiven, just because you ask for it.
In ending, God is the one who judges. Asking forgiveness comes from the heart and not the mouth.
His argument according to Scripture is not valid.
We all will be held accountable for our deeds.

Answer 7

I can say that the guy said to him who confessed his crime and will be forgiven is only under the condition of never commit again. Any one who are not understand the bible and interpretation to other is definately sin and never be forgiven. Those committed sins will be in hell as soon as arrow shoot.

For simple mind people; Christian is definately easy to lead people to heaven but on the other hand people will cut the their right section to reliase their sin and excuse.

To find a holly man in any religious is very difficult. The karma will bring you there. With a humble heart and always look at our own faults and consider how to do better next time. Which is better to look at other people faults which we cannot control, but ourself can.

Answer 8

My brother, who is born-again Christian, has struggled to understand the very same issue that you describe - the idea that 'sins' can be repeated over and over and forgiven each and every time presents two issues to consider.

The first is the fact that Jesus is considered by all Christians to be a forgiver. His forgiveness stems from the fact that the forgave the very people who crucified him, forgave prostitues and criminals for the illicit nature of their work. Forgiveness is one of the cornerstones of Christ's teachings (which is in contrast to the Old Testament, which focuses far more on the power and mystery of God.) When one accepts that Christ is his or her personal savior, all sins are forgiven and that person's soul is washed clean. Since someone can approach Jesus and God to ask for forgivenss at any time, the assumption that there is a 'free ticket to heaven' is true... Jesus doens't have a 'limit' on his forgiveness, and when you think about it, the very concept on a limit of mercy is non-sensical.

Having said all that, here is the second issue. Although most born-again Christians would agree that accepting Christ as a savior is all that one needs to be given grace and acceptance to an afterlife in God, one also must strive to be as 'Christ-like' as possible in his or her life... A life of satisfying one's own needs without regard to others, for example, would not be considered Christ-like. When people knowingly disobey Christ's teachings, they are taking the promise of forgiveness lightly and without respect. It, in a sense, can put them right back where they started when it comes to being more Christ-like.

So, though forgiveness is promised, if one is to study the Bible and truly follow the words of Christ, he or she would not be in the position to 'sin' again and again. The best advice I would offer you when speaking to your client would be to discuss the importance of Christ's teachings, and ask him if he is following what Christ said and did in his life. That is your strongest argument in this case. A Christian who follows the words of Christ would not continually fall into the same traps over and over again.

Answer 9

As for tommie*h....what the hell are you talking about?? "alien to AREA 51"????? What's up with that???
ANYWAY, this individual obviously has no clue what Christianity is all about. You do not do wrong, ask forgiveness, then do wrong again. It is just not the Christian way. Would you allow your child to steel, cheat, lie, then admit it to you voluntarily..then the child thinks it's ok to continue to do so?? NO, as a parent you wouldn't. Same goes with the words of God. This person sounds like a thick headed idiot that will not ever learn the ways, and he will continue to struggle until he finally "gets it".

Answer 10

To repent means to turn away from your sisns you go the opposite direction letting Christ in your life to make you a new creature is what being born again mean when the mean were going to stone the woman Jesus told them he who has no sin cast the first stone they all droped there stones and left Jesus told the woman you are forgiven go and sin no more he didn't tell here the next time you sin call me i will get you out of your mess no he said go and sin no more every time we choose to sin over living our life's for christ we are turning our back on our Savior it is better that a man was to never know me then to know me and turn his back on me Yes Jesus will forgive us time and time again but to live with the attitude i can still sin and its ok God will forgive me that perso never turned from his sins and was never truly Saved Satan know God he knows God well but Satan doesn't Love God this Love for our Lord is what makes us new what saves Us Jesus said we are to love the Lord our God this was his commandment to us.
God Bless you Always and Keep the Faith

Answer 11

if this guy is still doing bad things after asking for forgiveness and thinks he is OK as long as he asks ever time he does something bad he is wrong.I'm A reverend and God knows that this guy is full of B.S. and he will get his in the end.you were right by not making up a story.no one is the perfect person not even me as i have done things wrong in the past and sometimes i still do but deep down you have to be a good person to make it to gods land the old saying is true treat the other person as you would want to be treated this alone would make the world a much better place.