About Repentance?

Question

First, I am a Christian, and I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins, so that I could have eternal life.

But, I guess I'm still confused on the act of forgiveness and repentance of sins.

My question is, if Jesus paid the ultimate price for every last sin a man could commit, then even though I fail as a Christian at times, I'm forgiven of all of my mistakes, even the ones I haven't even made, yet, correct?

Do I have to keep asking God for forgiveness of my sins upon commiting them and hope that I asked forgiveness for every last one of them before I die, or is simply putting my faith in Jesus that he is my savior and I am forgiven of every sin the catch-all for all of my short-comings? In otherwords, repentance is merely acknowledging I am a sinner and in need of a savior, and not having to necessarily worry about whether or not I am going to continue to sin because all my sins (past, present and future) have been forgiven, correct?

I hope I didnt make your head spin

as an additional note, I'm not asking this question as an excuse to keep sinning, because you know if we really are trying to live like Jesus, we wouldnt want to keep sinning. More accurately, the way I see it is Jesus saved us from all sin, and this life is too short too keep worrying about if we screw up sometimes because eventually we will be sin free one day. But I could be wrong, that's why im poppin' the Q.

We shouldnt need to keep asking for forgiveness if Jesus has already forgiven us of our sins, past present and future.. am I right?

I find it incredibly tedious to ask forgiveness every time we sin because there are even sins we commit that we dont even recognize we commited. I really dont think if you God is going to go down a list of every sin you committed and put a check mark by every one youve asked forgiveness for. That would be human works and would defeat the purpose of Jesus, right?

Yeah, I agree that sinning as a Christian does hurt my relationship with God... so, yeah I would agree that asking for forgiveness to improve our relationship is necessary, but I was wondering if you had to keep doing that in order to maintain your salvation... which I dont think is necessary, wouldnt you agree?

I think Joyful Noise answered my question very accurately..

But there are alot of good answers... and some serve no other purpose than a quick jab at something they dont understand.

Answer 1

Here's the thing. Christ did pay for all sins, past, present, and future. This has to do with the Great White Throne Judgment wherein God decides if you go to heaven or hell. But, there are other judgments that you will come under. From the time of salvation, your past is erased from God's judgment. He sees only the blood of Christ, a covering for you to begin fresh, washed white as snow, so to speak. But, sins commited after the salvation experience go on another record and you are held accountable for the deeds done in this body, whether good or bad. If good, then there will be rewards for you. If bad, then rewards will be taken from you, even though you will go to heaven. The salvation experience creates a newness within that compels us to do good works....not for reward, but because it is the right thing to do. We begin to want to do good, to please the Father. We actually enjoy doing good. The opposite is true of bad works. When we sin, we are bothered within our own soul. We lose our peace. We lose our fellowship with God. In order to restore that fellowship, we must repent and ask God's forgiveness. Then we wipe the slate clean again and all is right. Otherwise we will be held accountable for those sins, even though we will go to heaven. I hope this helps.

Answer 2

Yes to both questions. Put "repent" and "forgive" into a Bible search engine and you will find gospel passages like these: Mark 1:4 (see also Luke 3:3): And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John the Baptist taught that forgiveness requires repentance--and Jesus submitted to baptism to model how we are to repent. His ministry began with the message, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Luke 17:3: "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." Notice that repentance is always the condition for forgiveness. Those who don't repent, like those who won't forgive others, are not forgiven. Luke 24:47: Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. But is penance required? Check out the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19: But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham." It was the reparation for sin in returning the stolen money that signaled that Zacchaeus was serious about repentance. Repentance isn't just saying sorry. It involves a conviction that you have done wrong, a resolution not to continue in wrongdoing, and a willingness to do what is possible to mitigate the harm that was done. CDF

Answer 3

God tells us to confess our sins so that we remain humble as we realize how much we need him. We should confess our sins regularly to God and ask him to help us change as we commit ourselves to turning away from them.
Christ's sacrifice payed for all of our sins. However, we can't make the mistake of saying, "Well, I'm saved so I'll go out and murder and rob and steal because God will forgive me anyway." This doesn't work because when God saves us he requires that we make the decision to turn from our sins. This doesn't mean that we will be perfect, but it does mean that we will make an effort.
While God wants us to confess our individual sins, what matters for salvation is that we acknowledge that we are sinners in need of a Savior. Therefore, if you fail to confess every last sin, you are still saved.
Email me if this doesn't make sense.

Answer 4

Bingo!!!!!! this is just what I have been waiting for, an honest sinner Christian. You see I struggled with this very thing for years, but no-one could help me, all my leaders could say was to pray more, offer up more prayers of repentance, fast, go on mountain retreats etc, but I could never get rid of my sins. I knew the Bible said that only sinless and righteous people will be allowed into Heaven, and because I had sin in my heart I could not go there, hence all my struggles and many prayers of repentance.

Once I read Isaiah 59 it became even worse, as God did not even hear my prayers as He does not hear a sinner. What a dilemma I was in I tell you.
But on a day after I nearly gave up my faith in God, He intervened and led me to the truth. It was in the Bible all along but was too spiritually blind to see it.

This was because I was still not born again....I so struggled with this, but thought we only have this life to get things right with God, once it is over then it is over! So I relented and gave up my fixed thoughts about my so called faith, and had to re-learn the true gospel of the water and the Spirit (John 3:5). You see before this I only believed in the Cross, and was totally ignorant of His babtism and what He did for us in the Jordan River when He was babtized by John the Babtist.

Please know this: If you only believe in the blood on the Cross as the complete atoning sacrifice for our sins, you are not yet born again, and on top of this you mock God and make Him a liar, if you don't believe me then read 1 John 5:6-12. If you still don't believe the you are truly an unbeliever.

The complete atonement where He came and took away the sins of the world (past, present and future) were all taken away. Once I fully understood His gospel of both the water and the spirit and believed in it I was only then truly born again and made a sinless and righteous child of God.

I cannot give you the full atonement of all our sins here on this forum, but would very much give you a Free Christian book on 'How to truly become born again by the water and the Spirit', all you have to do is ask....then you will receive :-)

Answer 5

Yes,Jesus paid the price for past,present, & future sins.
BUT,The Holy Spirit residing in you makes you aware of any wrong doing.
"Out of Respect" and "acknowledgement "of God's gracious mercy,you should ask for forgiveness and His help & guidence to keep from repeating the same offenses.

Answer 6

Yes, you should keep asking for forgiveness. For one thing the unrepentant sins grieve the Holy Spirit and breaks down the communication with God.

Answer 7

After you become a Christian your sins are forgiven past, present and future. Your sin(s) doesn't keep you from heaven but it does keep you from a close relationship with the Lord, By confessing your sins you acknowledge your sins and ask to be forgiven which restores the relationship with God. Sin will clog the pipeline from the Lord. It doesn't mean your cast out of the family and if you die without confessing your still in the family of God. Blessings to you bro. P.S. Peter blew it and he walked with Jesus for 3 years. We are no different and we will sin. the best part is the Spirit will convict us of our sins and we will want to be close to the God who loves us so much he gave His only Son.

Answer 8

Yes, all of your sins are forgiven, even the ones you haven't confessed yet. However, this is not an excuse for Christians to sin, and continuing to ask God for help in overcoming our failures and confessing our wrongs when we are aware of them is part of living for God and growing as a person and a Christian. One of the blessings of being a Christian is we don't have to worry anymore, and we can trust God to continue the work He started in us. Be at peace.

Answer 9

Repentance means to turn away from your sin. To change your mind about it.

You will still mess up and sin, but when you realize that you did, you should confess and try not to do it again.

As far as confessing every single sin, and asking forgiveness for each one individually, don't worry. When you repent from your sinful life and turn to Jesus, you don't have to list every single sin, you repent of them all at once.

After you become a Christian, if you REALIZE you have committed a sin, confess it to God. Don't worry about not remembering each thing, if its important God will bring it to your mind.

Most importantly, get involved in a Bible Study to learn more about all the different aspects of the faith.

Answer 10

No, you MUST constantly repent of your sins and By God's grace through prayer live by the 10 commandments! It is because of Jesus' sacrifice that our sins are "washed away", but you must keep asking for forgiveness everyday. If you're Catholic/Orthodox Christian, go to confession regularly and recieve Holy Communion!