Forgot the repenting of sins

JohnB445

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I focus too much on the prophetical stories in the Bible, now I am coming to the point I should focus on more sections.

I did not feel like I had to repent because I already accepted Jesus. But now it is apparent, one unrepented sin will dam someone to hell regardless if they are a believer?

So I should repent daily? But I don't remember all my sins, or know if I sinned in ignorance.

I said this in prayer instead. "Lord Jesus Christ sorry for all my transgressions I have made, if I had made any please forgive me Lord".

Is that repentance? I turned from my old habits, which was very easy to do thanks to the Holy Spirit if thats what I have.
 
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WESTOZZIE

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Who is stealing your peace from you? God does not remember your sins either. He says so.
See psalm 103 and it is repeated in Hebrews 10. There sins and their lawless deeds I will remember NO MORE.
The New Covenant is not like the Old. The blood of Jesus made complete propitiation for your sins..big word for atonement...big word for covering.
See 1 John 2:1
Also see Col 2:13
it is past tense-- "has forgiven all your trespasses". All your sins are forgiven.
Jesus said you have passed from death to life and shall not come into judgement.
 
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HTacianas

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I focus too much on the prophetical stories in the Bible, now I am coming to the point I should focus on more sections.

I did not feel like I had to repent because I already accepted Jesus. But now it is apparent, one unrepented sin will dam someone to hell regardless if they are a believer?

So I should repent daily? But I don't remember all my sins, or know if I sinned in ignorance.

I said this in prayer instead. "Lord Jesus Christ sorry for all my transgressions I have made, if I had made any please forgive me Lord".

Is that repentance? I turned from my old habits, which was very easy to do thanks to the Holy Spirit if thats what I have.

You are correct that, based entirely on the bible, even a single mortal sin leads to condemnation.

Now you are left with finding a way out of it.
 
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WESTOZZIE

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Believe it or not brother...God does not want us to have a sin consciousness. If you will read Hebrews 10 you see that the Old Covenant trapped the people in sin consciousness because they had to make sacrifice for their sins every day and every year. And in doing that they were always aware and conscious of their sins. But Christ made one sacrifice for sins forever so that He has cleansed our conscience --our consciousness- of dead works--sins and our abilities to not sin.
God wants us to have a RIGHTEOUSNESS consciousness...because that is what you are now you have accepted Jesus.
YOU ARE RIGHTEOUS by faith...not by repenting, not by praying, not by reading scripture...RECEIVE Jesus AS your righteousness. If He is in your heart brother, then you have received the RIGHTEOUS ONE --the RIGHTEOUS BRANCH--and He has become your RIGHTEOUSNESS---every day--every moment....YOU ARE A NEW CREATION in Jesus. FORGIVEN...JUSTIFIED....SANCTIFIED....GLORIFIED...RIGHTEOUS!
But if you do not believe this good news --you are still all those things from God's perspective--but from your own darkened understanding you remain feeling condemned and guilty and falling short all the time....so you try to get that feeling off by works--like repenting all the time....but the ANSWER is to simply choose to BELIEVE what God has said about you....which is what I wrote above.
Love you brother.
 
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JohnB445

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Who is stealing your peace from you? God does not remember your sins either. He says so.
See psalm 103 and it is repeated in Hebrews 10. There sins and their lawless deeds I will remember NO MORE.
The New Covenant is not like the Old. The blood of Jesus made complete propitiation for your sins..big word for atonement...big word for covering.
See 1 John 2:1
Also see Col 2:13
it is past tense-- "has forgiven all your trespasses". All your sins are forgiven.
Jesus said you have passed from death to life and shall not come into judgement.


Here are my beliefs that I've been taught.
Saved by grace through faith
Once saved always saved, once you are sealed with the Holy Spirit it can't leave you.

But I got very confused once I started looking at what other people believe about salvation, that's when I got restless and questioned if I am actually saved or not or can lose my salvation.
 
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Presbyterian Continuist

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I focus too much on the prophetical stories in the Bible, now I am coming to the point I should focus on more sections.

I did not feel like I had to repent because I already accepted Jesus. But now it is apparent, one unrepented sin will dam someone to hell regardless if they are a believer?

So I should repent daily? But I don't remember all my sins, or know if I sinned in ignorance.

I said this in prayer instead. "Lord Jesus Christ sorry for all my transgressions I have made, if I had made any please forgive me Lord".

Is that repentance? I turned from my old habits, which was very easy to do thanks to the Holy Spirit if thats what I have.
Gospel repentance is a one-time act. In accepting Jesus as Saviour, you have turned your life around from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God. You don't have to go back and be reconverted every time you commit a sin. 1 John 1:9 tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We can't live the life of holiness in our own strength. If we try, we are just trying to follow the Law, which brings a curse and Christ is of no value. But talking to God about your failures and asking for the Holy Spirit within you to guide you in the paths of holiness is walking in the Spirit. Paul says in Galatians 5 that being converted to Christ is living in the Spirit, but we also need to walk in the Spirit. When we commit sins, we need to go boldly to God's throne of grace, and confessing sin to God is the way to do it. Trying to deal with our sins in the natural will fail, but confessing them to God is allowing the Holy Spirit in us to do it, and He does it more effectively.
 
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Presbyterian Continuist

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If I didn't know where I stood with God, I would be too afraid to go to God and tell Him my darkest secrets. I would feel too much embarrassment and shame. But knowing that all guilt, shame, and punishment of sin has been put on Christ when He died for me on the cross, and I have been given the gift of Christ's righteousness, I can feel confident to go to God and confess the most shameful parts of my life where I struggle for victory. I can then depend on His promise that when I do that, He forgives me completely, and cleanses me from everything that would make be unacceptable to Him.

Those who rail on about unrepentant sin causing us to lose our salvation and who oppose anything different as I have seen on some threads, are those who have dark areas of sin in their own lives and who struggle with sin consciousness, knowing that they have not got the victory over their failures and shortcomings. So they are preaching and railing at themselves to remind themselves that they need to constantly repent. They are the ones who don't know where the stand with Christ and who are deathly afraid of losing their salvation over every little infraction of their own moral rules.

They fail to realise that Jesus is a complete Saviour, and His finished work on the cross has totally dealt with their sinfulness, so that God sees them through the righteousness of Christ. They may be members of churches where their pastor is preaching nonsense about sin that is inspired by a lying spirit.

What causes a person to lose fellowship with God is ignoring the Holy Spirit within them Who works to develop holiness in them. They turn away from the Holy Spirit and try to walk in their own attempts at self-righteousness. They are the ones who have the "holier than thou" attitude toward others who don't measure up to their standard of morality.
 
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WESTOZZIE

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And the thing is --God drew you to Jesus, it wasn't your idea...God gave you the gift of repentance and faith in Jesus....God saved you....and God is keeping you...He is Faithful to do it...He is in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure....It is HIS Salvation...His Yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Fear of losing your salvation...fear of going to Hell,...fear of being a castaway...fear of hearing Jesus say Depart from me....all those things do not come from the Holy Spirit within you....How do I know?

I Jn4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us.

Fear is always present in the heart of one who has not yet seen what Jesus accomplished for them personally. So be seeking your Father to show you what Jesus did for you.
 
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JohnB445

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Thank you I should trust the Spirit that lives inside. The spirit does produce good fruit and helps me live a better life than the one I had in the past. I was at ease and at rest once I got it.

The confusion came when I shared my experience with someone after I received it, and they told me it may have been something else. Which was what lead me to question.

But now I trust the spirit. the confusion comes from my mind instead of the heart. My heart feels safe, my mind is turbulent and confused if I was finished.
 
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WESTOZZIE

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Yes for sure....see you are learning by the Spirit's teaching all about this walk of FAITH. The mind will run away with all sorts of things, but the mind of the S/spirit is at rest in God. The Old Covenant is based upon you doing your part so that God will do His part for you. That is the Old Covenant and as Oscarr said above it brings a curse and sets Jesus aside.
You see Paul speaking of that in Galatians 2:20 and 2:21
The flesh loves to set aside Jesus and be the one that earns God's favour...instead of receiving Jesus as our ONLY righteousness.
We learn this ourselves by experience.
We might say that Jesus is my only righteousness...and that is true and good....
But that declaration will be tried and tested....so that we find out that we are still trusting in ourselves to be justified in His sight by what we are doing...or not doing.
 
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GandalfTheWise

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I focus too much on the prophetical stories in the Bible, now I am coming to the point I should focus on more sections.

I did not feel like I had to repent because I already accepted Jesus. But now it is apparent, one unrepented sin will dam someone to hell regardless if they are a believer?

So I should repent daily? But I don't remember all my sins, or know if I sinned in ignorance.

I said this in prayer instead. "Lord Jesus Christ sorry for all my transgressions I have made, if I had made any please forgive me Lord".

Is that repentance? I turned from my old habits, which was very easy to do thanks to the Holy Spirit if thats what I have.

Often, Christians think of the gospel as having two parts. 1. God forgives me. 2. I have to try as hard as possible not to sin anymore. However, the gospel actually consists of these two parts. 1. God forgives us, adopts us as children, and puts us into a right relationship with Him. 2. God gives us a new nature to transform us so that we naturally do those things we should.

Some Christians define repentance along the lines of successfully stopping sinning on our own. That is, if we "really" repent and "really" mean it, we'll stop sinning on our own efforts. I think that a more biblically based understanding of repentance is a change of mind and change of heart. We realize that we are sinners before God and that we need His power and help in order to change. Repentance is not so much about feeling so terrible about our sins that we can force ourselves to have enough discipline and willpower to fix everything about ourselves. Repentance is coming to God and acknowledging that we need Him to change us and transform us into the person He wants us to be. It is about acknowledging that without His work in our life that we cannot avoid sin.

When we become Christians, God puts a new nature within us. We are a new creation in Christ. Over time, that new creation flowers and blooms and it becomes who we really are. All of those unique things about each of us that God created have been marred and corrupted by sin. With the new creation, we can start emerging as the unique treasure and work of art God intended us each to be to reflect His glory in some way unique to us. God's plan for us is not merely to "stop sinning" but rather to start fully living life in liberty and freedom as the person He created us to be.

My observation is that sins in a Christian's life tend to fit 3 general categories. 1. Things that we can trivially change. We simply learn something is unhealthy spiritually and we just stop doing it. 2. Things that require spiritual growth and maturity to change. Some things simply just grow and change in our lives over time. 3. Things we cannot change on our own such as addictions, besetting sins, compulsive behaviors and feelings. These are things God must heal or deliver us from.

Often, we spend our time worrying about numbers 2 and 3 instead of just focusing on growing spiritually and walking closer with God. It is the consistent things such as prayer, bible reading and study, being with other Christians that help our spiritual growth occur. As the unique individuals God made us to be, we need to figure out how to best walk with God. Some people find prayer in the morning best; others at evening; others during the day. Some find prayer best done in a quiet room; out for a walk; driving to work. Some people like to read a few chapters of the Bible per day; others like to focus on a particular passage. These things can also change in time in our lives as to what works best.

If you haven't already, I'd recommend reading John's gospel, and the books of Luke and Acts. These will tend to provide a nice basis for understanding the rest of the Bible.
 
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longwait

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I focus too much on the prophetical stories in the Bible, now I am coming to the point I should focus on more sections.

I did not feel like I had to repent because I already accepted Jesus. But now it is apparent, one unrepented sin will dam someone to hell regardless if they are a believer?

So I should repent daily? But I don't remember all my sins, or know if I sinned in ignorance.

I said this in prayer instead. "Lord Jesus Christ sorry for all my transgressions I have made, if I had made any please forgive me Lord".

Is that repentance? I turned from my old habits, which was very easy to do thanks to the Holy Spirit if thats what I have.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
James 5:16
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Psalm 32:5
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Acts 3:19
When anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned.
Leviticus 5:5
We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.
Daniel 9:5
When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
Psalm 32:3 | NIV

Whatever sins you remember that you committed confess them before the Lord and repent of it.
 
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Presbyterian Continuist

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Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
James 5:16
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Psalm 32:5
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Acts 3:19
When anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned.
Leviticus 5:5
We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.
Daniel 9:5
When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
Psalm 32:3 | NIV

Whatever sins you remember that you committed confess them before the Lord and repent of it.
Great references! One more. Jesus told Peter that he needs to forgive those who sin against him seventy time seven. That is an expression to describe infinity. It means that if a person wrongs you the same way time and time again, you have to forgive him each time he wrongs you until he stops the behaviour. If Jesus requires us to forgive others as much as that, then how much more does Jesus forgive us when we can't get the victory over that sinful habit pattern that keeps recurring? When does the forgiveness of Jesus run out? Never. He will keep forgiving us until there is nothing left to forgive; and that might not be until we meet Him in glory.
 
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All4Christ

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Keep confessing your sins daily. Don’t live in constant fear, but continue to repent and grow closer to God. Repenting doesn’t stop just because you asked the Lord to save you. Repentance means turning away from your sin - which is something we all need to do. It is a constant process of growing closer to God rather than pushing yourself away. We do have a choice of following God or not following Him throughout our lives. Fight the good fight. We need to persevere in the good race until the end.

“… let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1b)

A good prayer to pray each day is Psalms 51.
 
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“… let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1b)

The context of the verse our sister uses here is Hebrews 11 which is all about FAITH. Thus the sin that so easily entangles us is UNBELIEF.
Unbelief in what Jesus has done for us and is doing in us entangles us back under the OLD covenant which depends upon us to do our part. Sadly most Christians today do not BELIEVE in the New Covenant ---they prefer to labour under the Old way....never knowing if they have done enough repenting or remembered all their sins or done enough whatever________to please God...but Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please Him.

Galatians 5:1
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

The liberty Christ has given us is this new nature --which is Jesus Himself joined to your spirit. As I said above--you are the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God IN Christ Jesus...by faith...and that was a gift to you from God your Father.
Paul says DO NOT BE ENTANGLED AGAIN with a yoke of BONDAGE.....which he clearly goes on to say is the keeping of the Law as if it will justify you....it wont.
Christ HAS already justified you.
But the flesh just will not rest on Christ---it must be busy looking like it is doing something for God....and that includes always repenting, always praying etc etc....oh so holy!!

The perseverence that we run with is one of faith....but as Gal 2:20 tells us "the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the Son of God..."
It is Jesus faith inside of your spirit....carrying you, directing you....you spoke about your 'heart at peace but your mind in turmoil' above somewhere...no wonder you get confused...we all do.
Read through Galatians and see that there were people constantly saying things like 'we have to do this and that as well as believing in Jesus'. That will ENTANGLE you in a web of flesh/law/condemnation/fear/self righteousness and pretending.
 
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All4Christ

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To the OP:

To expand on my previous post: the context of Hebrews 12:1 with Hebrews 11 and Hebrews 12 is that faith enables us to throw off the sin that easily entangles us. The righteous people mentioned did things by faith - but through that, they still threw off the sin that entangled them (not just unbelief). Continue down Chapter 12, and you’ll see examples of those who did not throw of the sin that entangled them. Also, read Galatians 5 and 6 for more context.

Faith is critical, but following God, turning away from sin (i.e. repenting), and growing closer to him is also critical.

We come to Christ as sinners; we are justified by faith apart from good works. However...and this is important...once this happens, we need to honor Him with our actions and turn away from our sinful flesh because our final judgment will also hinge in part of our actions. True faith, good works and repentance go hand in hand. When we repent, we are reoriented towards God.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body” (2 Cor 5:10).”

Keep following God and repent of your actions...not to be “saved” each time you confess, but to unite with Christ, to become Holy, to turn away from our sinful flesh and become more like Christ. Our faith allows us to do this...but it is necessary. That “great cloud of witnesses” shows us how to do that.

I can’t debate this in Christian Advice. If anyone wishes to do so, we can do that in a different forum.

ETA: For Orthodox reading this - I’m trying to translate our teachings into the terminology used by the Western Church. We often use different terminology, but I think this matches what we are taught after considering the meaning of the different words we use in comparison to the words used by the Western Church. It’s difficult to portray perfectly.
 
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Christianity BEGINS with the contrite heart......The Holy Spirit does this ....without a contrite heart Christianity is just another religion......Way to go, Bob!
 
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