Question about repentance?

Question

If you repent and are saved, does is matter if you sin again? Do you have to continually repent, or are you automatically forgiven of other sins once you have been saved? Also, if you do have to repent each time, what is the way you repent? Is it through church officials, prayer or another form?

What do you consider sin? I know it was a broad issue, so this may help narrow it down. TO me, anything that is against what Christ said is sin. I hope this helps clarify!!!

Answer 1

Here's my definitions--
*Sin- Knowingly acting against the will of God. To me, this means that sin is not possible without knowledge of God and His will.

*Repentance-The process of changing and becoming the person God would have me be--

1) Acknowledging the wrong (to self, to God and to injured party, sometimes with help of church leader)
2) Aopologizing (to God and the injured party)
3) Making amends (as much as is possible, again, sometimes with help of church leader)
4) Changing and not doing it again

*Saved- I'm not really familiar with this term. I hear others use it often, but in a context I don't really understand- "I was saved on (some date)".... I suspect that what they mean and my definition are different things.

To me, my being saved is an accomplishment that isn't completed till after I die--

At the Final Judgement, when Jesus judges me, He will look at what I knew, and judge me accordingly-- Did I live up to the highest standards of goodness that I knew? As I learned more, did my behavior change to match? As a Christian, did I take advantage of the gift of repentance and did I use it often to improve myself and make myself a better person?

I've always been taught that God is merciful. How merciful would He be if He expected anyone to live up to an expectation that they were unaware of? Yes, I think we'll each be judged according to what we know and understand.

I kind of think some define "saved" as an event that happens while still in this life. They feel the Holy Ghost's presence and interpret it as some kind of seal of approval on their soul. I see that kind of experience as ongoing communication between a loving Father and His child.

Answer 2

Yes, it matters if you sin again. Yes you do have to continually repent. No, once saved always forgiven doesn't apply.
Repentance is a circle so there's no real beginning but let's jump in where you realize you've done something wrong and that you further realize you need to repent of it. Next you pray to God and tell Him what you did and tell Him you will stop doing it/strive to stop doing it (be honest here - if you don't know that you will stop, or that you even want to, tell Him that. Honesty is crucial when talking to your Heavenly Father.) Ask Him to help you stop doing this thing, and ask Him to forgive you for it. Think about ways you can stop doing it, then put them into action. If you hurt someone else, ask for their forgiveness and do what you can to make ammends. If needed, especially in really serious sins, confess to the appropriate authorities (this could be the police, or your church official(s), and the decision of what should be confessed is totally up to you). Then you need to forgive yourself for that particular instance of committing that particular sin. Forgiving yourself doesn't excuse what you did, but we are all commanded to forgive all and God will forgive who He will forgive. The more time that goes by without repenting, the harder it will be. The bigger (in your eyes) the sin, the harder it will be to not only repent, but start the repentance process. It's been said that those in the highest levels of heaven will be master repenters. They will have repented so often that it will be second nature to them.
So yes, church officals can be involved, prayer is certainly involved, as well as other things. It will be a process, it will most likely take a while, but jump in to the repentance cycle now and see what a difference it can make in your life.

UPDATE: Annie, yes for MANY evangelicals being "saved" was the date they turned their life over to Christ. I agree with you. Being saved is not something we will know in this life. How could we? We're still able to be tempted, we will still be tried, and tested.

Answer 3

Here's the thing. We all make mistakes and we all sin. I find this question to be fairly vague, but here's what I have to say. Vague because, where do you draw the line? If you take an extra minute on your 10 min break at work, is that a sin? I'd say no, but really are you being honest with your fellow man? not entirely. How does one become saved while they're mortal? What would the point of our presence on Earth be if we didn't have to prove ourselfs worthy to live with God? Yes you need to repent of your sins when you sin. There is a process to repentance: 1. Realize you sinned. 2. confess (if its serious, talk to a leader of the church otherwise pray) 3. don't commit the sin again.

Answer 4

It does matter. You shouldn't go around sinning just because you are saved. True repentance is meant from the heart. If a person truel is repenting, then they will make a good effort not to do such sins again. The motive behind which you repent is very important. One should not have a "Ah, it's cool, I can sin all I want, all I have to do is repent and everything will be fine". Think of it like this: You have a child. The child steals from you (You're the parent). Sure, you'll be willing to forgive them, but that doesn't mean you're completely fine with the kid doing it again. Soon, you're going to not take the kid's apologies seriously.

I repent through prayer.

Answer 5

This is an excellent question. I have always wondered about the concept of "proclaiming Christ as your Savior and then becoming automatically saved due to your pronouncement of faith.

The devils that the Savior cast out of the man, that were Legion, proclaimed Jesus to be the Savior before they went into the swine and drowned in the ocean. Such a "pronouncement" by the devils would be consistent with the logic that they too, will be Saved for acknowledging Christ as the Savior. Yet, how inconstant a view if one feels the devils can be saved but not other Christian "sects" or others trying to improve, grow, change, get better, etc all of their lives.

Answer 6

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and seek His forgiveness for your sins, you repent, and you turn from sin. If you sin again you confess again and repent again. But if you continue to keep committing the same sin over and over (say like stealing a candy bar and you have done it 5 times,) you have not repented nor were you truthful with Jesus when you asked for forgiveness the 2-5 time of committing the same sin. Repentance to me means dedicating yourself and your life to not sin again.

Answer 7

If we had to make sure we repented of every sin we committed, we wouldn't have much time to do anything else. The blood of Christ on the cross washes us clean of our sins past, present and future. When the holy spirit convicts me of sin, I always know it. And I always feel much better when I bring it, immediately, before God and repent of it. But I'm sure there are things I do, say or think that I don't repent of. That doesn't negate my salvation. And the bible tells us there is one God, and one mediator between man and God, Jesus Christ. All you need do is go to the Father in the name of the son. You do not need any other intermediary.

Answer 8

please understand the procedure of salvation.
Before Chirst, there is no salvation through blessing. you do wrong, you go to hell. you obey God and abide the law or be punished. but when Christ come to us and taught us the way and the truth, that you will be saved from your wrong doings(sin) if you repent. on the other hand salvation is by blessing only, for that you need to behave well and accept Chirst. you don't underestimate the repentance you have to offer. it is not like you said repent and sin again method. once you repent , you will see Chirst in your heart and you will become a new person. on the other hand, you will not sin again.

Answer 9

Because I am still in the flesh, I will sin. I war with my flesh daily but the Word of God keeps my spiritual self in check.

As I grow in grace, it is not that often but if I slip, I immediately tell God that I am sorry for what I did and ask Him for forgiveness right where I am. The Holy Spirit convicts me.

I would not say that I "continually" sin because you can have victory over the flesh but you can slip up occasionally because we have not been perfected yet. That won't happen until we get our glorified bodies.

For instance you may get angry and say something uncharitable to someone. You know you should not have not said it but you did. Most of the times, I can catch myself but sometimes I slip. Every Christian has an area that they may struggle in while other areas are easy to overcome.

The sins that you have committed past, present, and future are under the blood. But you still have to confess so as not to grieve the Holy Spirit.

We are called to obedience.

Answer 10

Salvation is a process and not a one time event as Calvinist theology teaches. First comes initial salvation when we answer the call of the Holy Spirit and surrender to the law written on our hearts. we are then sanctified throughout our life through God's grace. Sometimes we fail and are seduced by evil or surrender to our desires of the flesh and must repent to restore our relationship with Christ. Therefore, our salvation is determined by the state of our eternal soul at death as it is necessary to endure to final salvation before we are present with the Lord and become part of the Church Triumphant.

The belief that salvation is a one time intellectual assent to belief in Christ and then all sins , past, present and future are forgiven is a lawless soteriological view which is the anthetisis of biblical teaching and a doctrine of men taught by John Calvin in his work, "Institutes of the Christian Religion".

Throughout life we are to receive the Sacraments of the Church where the grace is provided to endure to final salvation and one of these Sacraments is the Sacrament of Penance where we seek forgiveness through repentence.

In Christ