Worried about genuine repentance

flipflop2234

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I'm afraid that my repentance is not genuine. I have confessed my sins to the Lord but I am afraid that the only reason I have come to him as out of fear and that I love the Lord's gifts and not him. I greatly fear hell, for good reason, it's hell. I have had to deal with many doubts and fears during my walk with the Lord but this one has really scared me. After my confession to the Lord and plea for forgiveness, I have of course attempted to turn from my sin. I haven't had much trouble addressing the habitual sin in my life that I can cut out and the Lord has been graceful in allowing my successes such as my ceasing of masturbation, inappropriate contentography, lying, cheating, and even stealing. This conviction is usually never in the form of a discernible "godly sorrow" or crappy feeling but rather a realization that I need to stop followed by fear of disobeying the creator of heaven and earth. My change of action usually comes from me reading a sort of warning or forbidding passage in scripture and seeing that it applies to me and then I pray for strength and motivation to cease said sin and ask for forgiveness for doing it in the past. I am usually lacking in remorse over the past sin because I have confidence that Jesus payed for me in full and get a sort of motivation to stop because I've been set free from the bondage sin and get assurance of eternal life because of my apparent growing in faith and obedience. This usually has worked with my realization of the wrong committed in combination with fear of God's Wrath if I disobey him as my means of motivation. I have asked God to transform my fear into a perfect love that is spoken of in the Bible that drives out fear and I've asked him to help me love HIM and JESUS rather than just the gift of eternal life, peace, and joy. I've said that I'm sorry to the Lord and I wish that I have never committed those sins but I'm afraid that I don't feel sorry enough for the actual acts. I want to feel Godly sorrow for my sin and I know that my sin is basically spitting on Jesus in rebellion but I can't force myself to feel sorrow even though I want to! I typically find out that I am participating in a sin and confess it and seek to cease it right away to conform to gods will but a brokenness or sorrow is usually absent and I just pray that God would strengthen me to continue in abstinence of whatever sin is relevant.

Is the path that I'm on looking healthy or do I need to do some serious reevaluating?
Is my conviction through reading and hearing God's word followed by an urge to change my ways not of the spirit and of my own decietful heart?
Id love to hear what you guys think.
 

Winken

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The Holy Spirit convicts you in the Spirit. You don't convict yourself in the flesh. Each time you turn to 1 John 1:9, He rejoices, and provides the instant forgiveness provided there. When you come under Holy Spirit conviction it is HE who urges you to open your Bible, to listen to Him as your prayers are lifted up, to KNOW that once you have confessed Jesus as Savior you are eternally secure.

Who is it who interjects doubt into God's Amazing Love for you? Satan. Your own mind-will-emotions (the flesh) as stimulated by him. Each time you confess Jesus you send Satan into the eternal hell of his own making. He screams back, hoping to dissuade you again.

Meet God in prayer. Rebuke Satan each time you open the Bible to God's Word. Each time you confess 1 John 1:9 out loud, and praise God for that scripture!
 
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RC1970

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I'm afraid that my repentance is not genuine. I have confessed my sins to the Lord but I am afraid that the only reason I have come to him as out of fear and that I love the Lord's gifts and not him. I greatly fear hell, for good reason, it's hell. I have had to deal with many doubts and fears during my walk with the Lord but this one has really scared me. After my confession to the Lord and plea for forgiveness, I have of course attempted to turn from my sin. I haven't had much trouble addressing the habitual sin in my life that I can cut out and the Lord has been graceful in allowing my successes such as my ceasing of masturbation, inappropriate contentography, lying, cheating, and even stealing. This conviction is usually never in the form of a discernible "godly sorrow" or crappy feeling but rather a realization that I need to stop followed by fear of disobeying the creator of heaven and earth. My change of action usually comes from me reading a sort of warning or forbidding passage in scripture and seeing that it applies to me and then I pray for strength and motivation to cease said sin and ask for forgiveness for doing it in the past. I am usually lacking in remorse over the past sin because I have confidence that Jesus payed for me in full and get a sort of motivation to stop because I've been set free from the bondage sin and get assurance of eternal life because of my apparent growing in faith and obedience. This usually has worked with my realization of the wrong committed in combination with fear of God's Wrath if I disobey him as my means of motivation. I have asked God to transform my fear into a perfect love that is spoken of in the Bible that drives out fear and I've asked him to help me love HIM and JESUS rather than just the gift of eternal life, peace, and joy. I've said that I'm sorry to the Lord and I wish that I have never committed those sins but I'm afraid that I don't feel sorry enough for the actual acts. I want to feel Godly sorrow for my sin and I know that my sin is basically spitting on Jesus in rebellion but I can't force myself to feel sorrow even though I want to! I typically find out that I am participating in a sin and confess it and seek to cease it right away to conform to gods will but a brokenness or sorrow is usually absent and I just pray that God would strengthen me to continue in abstinence of whatever sin is relevant.

Is the path that I'm on looking healthy or do I need to do some serious reevaluating?
Is my conviction through reading and hearing God's word followed by an urge to change my ways not of the spirit and of my own decietful heart?
Id love to hear what you guys think.
Study carefully Paul's letter to the Philippians. Pretend that he wrote it specifically to you. Be intimately familiar with it's contents. Make it your own.
 
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Tolworth John

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The Christian life is like learning to drive. At first everything is happening at once, but as one gains experience it becomes second nature.
It is the same with Christian growth in maturity.

Once you've been forgiven, you need to accept that past sins are forgiven.
 
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ToBeLoved

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I'm afraid that my repentance is not genuine. I have confessed my sins to the Lord but I am afraid that the only reason I have come to him as out of fear and that I love the Lord's gifts and not him. I greatly fear hell, for good reason, it's hell. I have had to deal with many doubts and fears during my walk with the Lord but this one has really scared me. After my confession to the Lord and plea for forgiveness, I have of course attempted to turn from my sin. I haven't had much trouble addressing the habitual sin in my life that I can cut out and the Lord has been graceful in allowing my successes such as my ceasing of masturbation, inappropriate contentography, lying, cheating, and even stealing. This conviction is usually never in the form of a discernible "godly sorrow" or crappy feeling but rather a realization that I need to stop followed by fear of disobeying the creator of heaven and earth. My change of action usually comes from me reading a sort of warning or forbidding passage in scripture and seeing that it applies to me and then I pray for strength and motivation to cease said sin and ask for forgiveness for doing it in the past. I am usually lacking in remorse over the past sin because I have confidence that Jesus payed for me in full and get a sort of motivation to stop because I've been set free from the bondage sin and get assurance of eternal life because of my apparent growing in faith and obedience. This usually has worked with my realization of the wrong committed in combination with fear of God's Wrath if I disobey him as my means of motivation. I have asked God to transform my fear into a perfect love that is spoken of in the Bible that drives out fear and I've asked him to help me love HIM and JESUS rather than just the gift of eternal life, peace, and joy. I've said that I'm sorry to the Lord and I wish that I have never committed those sins but I'm afraid that I don't feel sorry enough for the actual acts. I want to feel Godly sorrow for my sin and I know that my sin is basically spitting on Jesus in rebellion but I can't force myself to feel sorrow even though I want to! I typically find out that I am participating in a sin and confess it and seek to cease it right away to conform to gods will but a brokenness or sorrow is usually absent and I just pray that God would strengthen me to continue in abstinence of whatever sin is relevant.

Is the path that I'm on looking healthy or do I need to do some serious reevaluating?
Is my conviction through reading and hearing God's word followed by an urge to change my ways not of the spirit and of my own decietful heart?
Id love to hear what you guys think.
I think it depends on where you are in your relationship with God. If you are a mature Christian, then I think the fact that you still have so much fear of God is problematic and I would then ask you if you read the Bible and know what God has given you as His CHild and the promises that He has made to you because you are His Child.

These promises and what God has done for us already, shows or should show us that God does what He says He will do. He is perfect, holy and righteous and God cannot do what He has already said He will do.

If it is not too personal, may I ask where you are in your walk with God and if you consider yourself a newer believer or a mature believer?
 
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FutureAndAHope

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I'm afraid that my repentance is not genuine. I have confessed my sins to the Lord but I am afraid that the only reason I have come to him as out of fear and that I love the Lord's gifts and not him. I greatly fear hell, for good reason, it's hell. I have had to deal with many doubts and fears during my walk with the Lord but this one has really scared me. After my confession to the Lord and plea for forgiveness, I have of course attempted to turn from my sin. I haven't had much trouble addressing the habitual sin in my life that I can cut out and the Lord has been graceful in allowing my successes such as my ceasing of masturbation, inappropriate contentography, lying, cheating, and even stealing. This conviction is usually never in the form of a discernible "godly sorrow" or crappy feeling but rather a realization that I need to stop followed by fear of disobeying the creator of heaven and earth. My change of action usually comes from me reading a sort of warning or forbidding passage in scripture and seeing that it applies to me and then I pray for strength and motivation to cease said sin and ask for forgiveness for doing it in the past. I am usually lacking in remorse over the past sin because I have confidence that Jesus payed for me in full and get a sort of motivation to stop because I've been set free from the bondage sin and get assurance of eternal life because of my apparent growing in faith and obedience. This usually has worked with my realization of the wrong committed in combination with fear of God's Wrath if I disobey him as my means of motivation. I have asked God to transform my fear into a perfect love that is spoken of in the Bible that drives out fear and I've asked him to help me love HIM and JESUS rather than just the gift of eternal life, peace, and joy. I've said that I'm sorry to the Lord and I wish that I have never committed those sins but I'm afraid that I don't feel sorry enough for the actual acts. I want to feel Godly sorrow for my sin and I know that my sin is basically spitting on Jesus in rebellion but I can't force myself to feel sorrow even though I want to! I typically find out that I am participating in a sin and confess it and seek to cease it right away to conform to gods will but a brokenness or sorrow is usually absent and I just pray that God would strengthen me to continue in abstinence of whatever sin is relevant.

Is the path that I'm on looking healthy or do I need to do some serious reevaluating?
Is my conviction through reading and hearing God's word followed by an urge to change my ways not of the spirit and of my own decietful heart?
Id love to hear what you guys think.

The bible says "It is not that we love God, but that God loved us and gave Himself for us".

The bible also says that "The fear of the LORD is the starting place of wisdom", and "the fear of the LORD cleanses the soul".

Fearing God's anger to keep you from sin is a good thing, we should never get so familiar with God that we give into sin. However there is no need to have a special bad feeling about our sin. You will find however as Moses said "the commands are given for your own benefit".

In regard to laws like the Sabbath, Jesus said "the Sabbath was given for man, not man for the Sabbath". Meaning we are not to legalistically follow rules, but rather see the benefit they bring to us in the long run, and follow them for God knows what will benefit us.

There is a reward for keeping God's commands, as Deuteronomy says "you shall be above only not beneath, if you diligently follow God's commands".

God promises us blessing as we obey. As the bible says "The blessing of the LORD makes one rich and he adds no sorrow to it". Sin has a short term benefit, but a long term, loss. Godliness leads to all your desires being met, as the bible says "the LORD will with hold no good thing from Him/her who walks uprightly".

God is for you. He wants you blessed.
 
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DiscipleHeLovesToo

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if you're reborn in Christ, then you need have no fear at all about hell - you missed it! you don't have any fear about burning while being on the planet Mercury because you know you'll never be on the planet Mercury - you should look at hell the same way: you'll never be there burning so there's nothing more to fear about hell than there is about the planet Mercury.

what saves you from God's wrath is your faith in His grace (your faith in His continuous UNdeserved favor toward you) - God isn't mad at you when you 'transgress the law' because He sees Jesus' payment for your sins as more than more than enough to cover every bad thing you' done, are dong, and will do.

the main reason you want to 'stop all that sinning' is because you love God - and He judges by the heart, not by performance, so this desire pleases Him even when you 'transgress the law' by ielding to the desires of your flesh. the secondary reason you want to 'stop all that sinning' is because you don't want to make it easy for the devil steal, kill and destroy in your life.

change your focus from you (your mistakes) to God (His unconditional love and forgiveness for you as a reborn believer), and you'll be able to get off the 'performance' treadmill - it's when you desire to be led by Him because of His goodness toward you that you'll be able to reduce those 'transgressions of the law':

Rom 2:4 KJV
(4) Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
 
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flipflop2234

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I think it depends on where you are in your relationship with God. If you are a mature Christian, then I think the fact that you still have so much fear of God is problematic and I would then ask you if you read the Bible and know what God has given you as His CHild and the promises that He has made to you because you are His Child.

These promises and what God has done for us already, shows or should show us that God does what He says He will do. He is perfect, holy and righteous and God cannot do what He has already said He will do.

If it is not too personal, may I ask where you are in your walk with God and if you consider yourself a newer believer or a mature believer?
I'm not really sure. I have learned quite a bit from the bible and really got serious about january of this year. I think I have a good understanding of the faith but doubts in my salvation come all the time. I know jesus is real and I know he CAN save me but I don't know if my faith WILLS him to save me.
 
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DiscipleHeLovesToo

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Mat 6:31 KJV
(31) Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

take no thought <by> saying <it>

if you focus on His unchanging promises (His revealed, unchanging, written word) to save you by your belief in His undeserved favor toward you; then when thoughts of doubt come, you'll be able to push them out of your thinking by thinking on those same unchanging promises from Him rather than the thoughts of doubt - thoughts of doubt come to everyone, but it's only those thoughts of doubt that you 'take' as your own by 'saying' them that become your own doubts - you can't stop birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest there :)
 
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