True saving faith is proven by your repentance

BCsenior said:

Continuing repentance is necessary for having an acceptable heart attitude before the Lord.

At the moment you were born-again …
you were only forgiven of the sins you had committed up to that point in time!
“For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness,
and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his OLD sins.
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call
and election sure, for IF you do these things you will never stumble;
for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:9-11, NKJV)
“OLD sins” is also in the KJV, RSV, NLT, AMP
“having forgotten his purification from his FORMER sins.” (2 Peter 1:9, NASB)
“forgetting that they have been cleansed from their PAST sins.” (2 Peter 1:9, NIV)

“… justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as a propitiation by His his blood through faith,
to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had
passed over the sins that were previously committed” (Romans 3:24-25, NKJV)

Paul wrote this to the Corinthian church concerning his words of rebuke
in 1 Corinthians that he had sent to them concerning some particular sin(s).
They really needed to be sorrowful and repent.
“… the pain (from his rebuke) caused you to repent and change your ways.
It was the kind of sorrow God wants His people to have, so you were not
harmed by us in any way. For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience
leads us away from sin and results in salvation. … worldly sorrow, which lacks
repentance, results in spiritual (eternal) death.” (2 Corinthians 7:8-10, NLT)

“Yes, I am afraid that when I come again, God will humble me in your presence.
And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins.
You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality,
and eagerness for lustful pleasure.” (2 Corinthians 12:21, NLT)
Immediately following this (in 2 Corinthians 13:1-10), Paul warns and threatens:
if the habitual sinners do not repent, he must exercise his authority to punish them!
How different in churches today ... where most pastors do not confront habitual sinners!

Peter is warning believers about God’s destruction of all ungodly and unholy people:
“Then he used the water to destroy the ancient (ungodly) world … the day of judgment,
when ungodly people will be destroyed. … He is being patient for your sake. He does not
want anyone to be destroyed (perish spiritually), but (He) wants everyone to repent.
… what holy and godly lives you should live … make every effort to be found living
peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. … I am warning you ahead of time
… Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors …” (2 Peter 3:6-17, NLT)

John gives the condition for the Lord to forgive believers’ present sins:
“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all wickedness (unrighteousness).” (1 John 1:9, NLT)
“This is an extremely important verse … all men need to be repeatedly purified from all
unrighteousness – from all their sins … We must confess our sins and turn from them
… We must also confess them with our actions … (John) is talking here about repentance
… we must hate our sins and turn from them. This is true repentance.”
(The Applied New Testament Commentary; Dr. Thomas Hale, medical missionary, charismatic)

2 verses later, John reminds believers to ask Jesus to plead our case before the Father:
“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before
the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.” (1 John 2:1, NLT)

Believers are responsible for repenting of their sins after they are born-again!
They have been given the Holy Spirit, a totally new nature, and God’s word.
So, they have been enabled to be victorious overcomers over sin, the world,
and the devil. They have no excuse for failing to do this.

“Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord.
Perhaps He will forgive your evil thoughts (i.e. sins).” (Acts 8:22, NLT)

“Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have
received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice
that will cover these sins” (Hebrews 10:26, NLT)

Jesus warns 5 of the 7 churches to repent in Revelation 2 - Revelation 3.

“Repent (metanoeo) and believe (pisteou) may be understood as opposite sides of the same coin.
Repent means to turn from one’s allegiance to sin and unbelief, whereas believe means
to place one’s trust in Christ. Thus when one is mentioned the other is implied.
… John never used the words repent, repentance, or faith to describe the way people are saved.
Instead, he used believe since this term included all of these ideas.”
(The Holman Christian Standard Bible)

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First you misunderstand what repentance is.

Repentance is the greek word metsanoia which means a change of mind! It is not beating your chest or weeping for sin or pulling a list out!

We repent once and are saved. after that when we sin- we acknowledge our sin as 1 John 1:9 says and that sin is experimentally forgiven. All of our sin has been removed as for eternal destination, but sin still has a temporal effect on us. It breaks fellowship with God, but it never destroys our relationship with God!

Once we become children of God- we are children or all eternity. And that is not a license to sin but a call to holiness for one who has been given a new nature!

Bible Highlighter said:

John 16:8-9 is the reality or truth that you are not accepting. The Spirit convicts the world of sin. How much more would the Spirit do so for a believer? So there is no such thing as failing to confess of a sin. God convicts believers of sin. What do you think chastisement is all about? But by your belief here, you imply God will fail to convict us of sin. If so, this is simply rubbish.

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Of course there is such a thing as failing to confess a sin. You must have a very narrow view of what sin is to think otherwise. I find most holiness Christians have a list of sins that are the "bad" ones and don't seem to realize that they sin every day in numerous ways, that are often worse than the sins they think are so bad. So, they actually have loads of confessed sins, all in a folder entitled "Pride". Just believing that you are perfect enough to never sin is a huge sin.

renniks said:

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

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In the context what he's saying is that if we say we have no sin when we HAVE sinned, we are deceiving ourselves.

Thus:

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Bible Highlighter said:

@renniks

1 John 1:9 does not say if we confess of our sins, you are already forgiven of sin without confessing of sin. Even though we are already forgiven of our sins, confess of your sin anyways imperfectly for you cannot confess of all your serious sin within your life.

Is that what 1 John 1:9 says? No. That is what you say.

Again, 1 John 1:9 actually says,

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).​

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

So the logical order of this sentence says....

If we confess our sins, .....

And then the next part says:

he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

It's like saying, If I kick the ball, the ball will go flying across the room. But if your view of 1 John 1:9 is correct, (by way of analogy here): You are saying that the ball has already been kicked and flown across the room without me having even kicked it.

If I am correct on my understanding of what you are saying here, I see that what you are saying is nonsense in relation to what 1 John 1:9 plainly says.

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Read on:

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Christ's sacrifice continues to cover all the believers sins. Yes, John is telling us to stop sinning. He's also telling us that grace is real. Think about it for a moment. There would be no need to tell believers to stop sinning if every sin condemned us to damnation. If that was the case, everyone would already be condemned! Why does John have to tell us to love one another and to stop sinning? Because we still do it even though we are saved!

11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Why does he also tell us: 16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death.

Who are we to pray for? Brothers and sisters who sin, because when they sin, they do not instantly lose their salvation, they are still in the Son. What sin leads to death? Only one, disbelief, that is, removing oneself from Christ.

I'm not making these points because I believe we have licence to sin without consequence. But to assure people that God is merciful and that they are still his child. Yes, we should confess our sins, but we will never reach perfection in this life. We don't save ourselves, only Christ's blood does that.
"And that's all I have to say about that."

Al Touthentop said:

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us

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Exactly, and remember, he's talking to Christians here. We still sin as believers, so we still need Christ's atonement to cover our sins.

Neogaia777 said:

The Bible makes it pretty clear that no one (besides God) is or can ever be or can ever truly become 100% completely sinless or as 100% totally sinlessly righteous like or as God is in this world, etc...

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Jesus became a man and proved that a man could be completely sinless. It wasn't his "Godness" that prevented him from sin, it was his obedience.

It/that is clear "all over it", etc...

"If we say we have no sin", etc, "all are caught or our bound up in unrighteousness or disobedience", etc, "there is none righteous, no not one", etc...

God Bless!

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"There is none righteous" was hyperbole. We have several examples of people who were righteous. We're given those examples so we can know how it's done. Paul gives us a long list of righteous people in Hebrews 11 so we know that he didn't mean that every single person in the world was incapable of righteousness.

When Paul called himself blameless under the old law, it was not because he hadn't ever sinned, it was because when he had sinned, he had followed the law's prescription for atonement. This is why Zacharias and Elizabeth were called righteous in Luke. They obeyed the law.

renniks said:

Exactly, and remember, he's talking to Christians here. We still sin as believers, so we still need Christ's atonement to cover our sins.

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I agree with you but I also think that the goal is perfection. And when we fall short, isn't it amazing that we have such a loving God that will forgive us?

Neogaia777 said:

You apparently have not been put under the right kind of "pressure" yet, or ever faced a controversial situation, where to do a more minor wrong thing, is to the superior right thing, I guess...

That's where we get down to true morality, and/or the true law or laws or meanings and intentions of the Spirit...

God Bless!

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Call me clueless, but I can't think of anything.

Al Touthentop said:

Are you disputing what I had written? Because I agree with you on most of what you say, other than one thing and that is an understanding of what is written. God gave the written word for our knowledge, not our feelings. We may not know every mystery of God, but it was intended that we understand the gospel.

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Yes, the Gospel message of the first four books of the NT. But so many have even tried and been successful at complicating and confounding even that to satan's delight. It is very, very clear in all of the NT that after one is saved they will battle temptation, struggle with obedience, and have the need to confess sin and have to continually exercise repentance as they strive toward the perfection which will be realized in heaven. Take John 3:16, do you contest its simple message and validity? Are you saying that anyone who claims to be a Christian based upon believing in this verse is not a Christian? I do not think anyone here will disagree that AFTER one is saved there are more obligatory and evidential patterns of behavior which should exist. After all we do become a new creation in Christ.

I think what a lot of more mature Christians struggle with is that they forget the simplicity and undemanding (gracious and merciful) manner in which God has afforded us to become one of His children. That after they have matured and had their eyes opened to the mysteries of enlightenment or Spiritual things and progress into such enlightenment they see many of the deeper and complex things attached to what started out to be simple and try to transliterate or impose such inedible meat upon milk sucklings.

Al Touthentop said:

Jesus became a man and proved that a man could be completely sinless. It wasn't his "Godness" that prevented him from sin, it was his obedience.



"There is none righteous" was hyperbole. We have several examples of people who were righteous. We're given those examples so we can know how it's done. Paul gives us a long list of righteous people in Hebrews 11 so we know that he didn't mean that every single person in the world was incapable of righteousness.

When Paul called himself blameless under the old law, it was not because he hadn't ever sinned, it was because when he had sinned, he had followed the law's prescription for atonement. This is why Zacharias and Elizabeth were called righteous in Luke. They obeyed the law.

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We're not Jesus, and your wrong about "everything else", also...

Jesus did not come to show and prove that we could be God, but that we could not, etc... He was not a man who became God, but was God who became man for us and did what only He could do and we could not, for us, etc... Whihc was to 100% completely sinless for us and die in our place, which is something He knew we could not do or become, etc, in this world or this side of life anyway...

And also, even if someone was blameless under the letter of the law, they still never ever were, or could never ever become so by the Spirit of it/them, which was far stricter and greater...

Either you are Jesus or God or you are not, and I can 100% guarantee you none of us are and we are most certainly "not", etc... To say that we are or were or could become so is take away from what God/Jesus was and/or did, take away from His glory, etc, which was not a man who became God, but God who became a man for us, and did what only He (God) could do, etc...

Accepting the fact that we are not God, is of the most primary truths that any real true Christian must accept if they are to be real and true and genuinely genuine and not false, cause otherwise, you think you are or could be God and are false, apostate, and are committing the same kind of sin as Satan or the Devil did/does, etc, and are His children if you think you are or could be or can be God, etc...

There are many other scriptures also, that tell us this truth, I only mentioned just a few from memory, "we all fall short" is another, etc...

Anyway, your the Devil's children if you think you are or can be like God, etc, or also put yourself in His place as judge or judges of one another or each other also...

God Bless!

IMO as Christians and professing that Jesus Christ is our lord and personal savior does not make us exempt from future sin. We as man are sinners. What I do feel however is that we as Christians have a calling to have a Christ centered life, a continual journey towards sinless acts. I don’t know about you guys but when I know I have sinned I ask for forgiveness in my prayers. I ask for His strength and guidance to act as he would act in whichever area I may have sinned in. Debating doesn’t change what I feel is right and what I feel is wrong.

Al Touthentop said:

So where do we find Jesus saying it is impossible for us?

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He didn't specifically, He left that ministry or mission for His apostles and disciples that would come after Him, but He "didn't" because His ministry or mission was aimed and geared toward those who thought they could, or could be deemed so or declared righteous by their own keeping of or being under the law, etc, to "catch (or trap) them (back them into a corner) in their own cunning" or own ways as it were, but Jesus knew they could not though, nor any of us afterward could not though, and that no man could ever not, etc, especially not by the spirit of them continually anyway, even if they could obey the letter, etc...

But, anyway, there was a "very specific reason" why He (Jesus) did not specifically say "it" specifically, as I just tried to explain...

It is most definitely implied though, when you apply and interpret all His words together to us as a whole though...

God Bless!

Neogaia777 said:

He didn't specifically, He left that ministry or mission for His apostles and disciples that would come after Him, but He "didn't" because His ministry or mission was aimed and geared toward those who thought they could, or could be deemed so or declared righteous by their own keeping of or being under the law, etc, to "catch (or trap) them (back them into a corner) in their own cunning" or own ways as it were, but Jesus knew they could not though, nor any of us afterward could not though, and that no man could ever not, etc, especially not by the spirit of them continually anyway, even if they could obey the letter, etc...

But, anyway, there was a "very specific reason" why He (Jesus) did not specifically say "it" specifically, as I just tried to explain...

It is most definitely implied though, when you apply and interpret all His words together to us as a whole though...

God Bless!

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IOW's part of Jesus mission was to catch and/or trap those who thought they could be declared righteous (or true or genuine or whatever) under the law or by their own will or ways or works, etc, which is also why He would not say it outright specifically that is wasn't possible, etc, otherwise His trap to catch them would not work, etc.

And if you take the whole entire truth of all of His words as a whole, and consider His audience and mission, you will not be able to help but see that clearly, etc...

God Bless!

Al Touthentop said:

Faith in the New Testament less often refers to your belief but "the faith," the system of faith, which is the gospel. It includes the commandments Jesus gave to his apostles to preach. Paul writes in the letter to the Romans that his whole point was to bring about "obedience of faith" or to be more precise, obedience of "the faith."

While your point is correct that the commands we obey are only made effective through Christ's sacrifice, we are asked to obey the faith and the apostles put a lot of emphasis on this obedience. The faith can not become effective until we believe and obey it.

Peter tells us that one of the elements of "the faith," baptism, "now saves us." Because it cleans the flesh? No, because it washes us of our sins and gives us a "good conscience toward God." This involves our repentance. We have to turn away from our sin and have our past sins washed away. Did we do something? Sure, we got in the water. But it was Christ's sacrifice that made it possible. So we can't take credit for its effectiveness but Peter and Paul taught that we could look back on it as important. Peter wanted us to remember that our obedience in becoming baptized had cleansed us of sin. Paul taught that it put us in contact with Christ's blood (as did John in his first letter) and that because we had been baptized we were put "in Christ" and that because of this, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death."

No condemnation from what? From your past sin. He then goes on to tell them that they must continue to walk in "the faith." Not only thinking things but remaining obedient and repentant. The faith, as James points out is dead without our involvement. Merely thinking things was never what "the faith" was about though that is what many preachers tell their congregations in total opposition to the scriptures.

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More often the Epistles talked about being “justified by faith” and use those words a lot more than “the faith.” Faith in the Greek means to rely on, have confidence in, or to trust. This goes with the New Testament teaching that we are justified by faith apart from works of the Law. And this faith is nothing but a relying on Christ for salvation, forgiveness of sins, and redemption. The best verse I can find to refute any form of Pelagian works-salvation is Romans 4:5, “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” Notice how God is said to justify the “ungodly”. This has massive ramifications because there are many who say you must make the first move or you must have this amount of sorrow or shed this many tears or have these specific resolutions. Paul denies all of that and says boldly that God justifies the one who has no works at all and who is ungodly in every sense of the word. Once this ungodly heathen trusts in the mercy of God, our Lord imputes (which is what the Greek means by “reckon”) to Him righteousness and the ungodly person is now in a state of justification. As Spurgeon said, “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners: forgiveness is for the guilty. Do not attempt to touch yourself up and make yourself something other than what you really are; but come as you are to Him who justifies the ungodly.” If this is not the gospel, then I am lost. If it’s not God’s grace alone that saves me then there is no hope for my salvation. Because with Jonathan Edwards, we all should say: “When I look into my heart and take a view of its wickedness, it looks like an abyss infinitely deeper than hell. And it appears to me, that, were it not for free grace, exalted and raised up to the infinite height of all the fullness and glory of the great Jehovah, I should appear sunk down in my sins below hell itself; far below the sight of everything, but the eye of sovereign grace, that alone can pierce down to such a depth. And it is affecting to think how ignorant I was, when a young Christian, of the bottomless depths of wickedness, pride, hypocrisy and deceit left in my heart.”
‭‭

BCsenior said:

Continuing repentance is necessary for having an acceptable heart attitude before the Lord.

At the moment you were born-again …
you were only forgiven of the sins you had committed up to that point in time!
“For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness,
and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his OLD sins.
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call
and election sure, for IF you do these things you will never stumble;
for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:9-11, NKJV)
“OLD sins” is also in the KJV, RSV, NLT, AMP

“having forgotten his purification from his FORMER sins.” (2 Peter 1:9, NASB)
“forgetting that they have been cleansed from their PAST sins.” (2 Peter 1:9, NIV)

“… justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as a propitiation by His his blood through faith,
to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had
passed over the sins that were previously committed” (Romans 3:24-25, NKJV)

Paul wrote this to the Corinthian church concerning his words of rebuke
in 1 Corinthians that he had sent to them concerning some particular sin(s).
They really needed to be sorrowful and repent.
“… the pain (from his rebuke) caused you to repent and change your ways.
It was the kind of sorrow God wants His people to have, so you were not
harmed by us in any way. For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience
leads us away from sin and results in salvation. … worldly sorrow, which lacks
repentance, results in spiritual (eternal) death.” (2 Corinthians 7:8-10, NLT)

“Yes, I am afraid that when I come again, God will humble me in your presence.
And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins.
You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality,
and eagerness for lustful pleasure.” (2 Corinthians 12:21, NLT)
Immediately following this (in 2 Corinthians 13:1-10), Paul warns and threatens:
if the habitual sinners do not repent, he must exercise his authority to punish them!
How different in churches today ... where most pastors do not confront habitual sinners!

Peter is warning believers about God’s destruction of all ungodly and unholy people:
“Then he used the water to destroy the ancient (ungodly) world … the day of judgment,
when ungodly people will be destroyed. … He is being patient for your sake. He does not
want anyone to be destroyed (perish spiritually), but (He) wants everyone to repent.
… what holy and godly lives you should live … make every effort to be found living
peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. … I am warning you ahead of time
… Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors …” (2 Peter 3:6-17, NLT)

John gives the condition for the Lord to forgive believers’ present sins:
“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all wickedness (unrighteousness).” (1 John 1:9, NLT)
“This is an extremely important verse … all men need to be repeatedly purified from all
unrighteousness – from all their sins … We must confess our sins and turn from them
… We must also confess them with our actions … (John) is talking here about repentance
… we must hate our sins and turn from them. This is true repentance.”
(The Applied New Testament Commentary; Dr. Thomas Hale, medical missionary, charismatic)

2 verses later, John reminds believers to ask Jesus to plead our case before the Father:
“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before
the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.” (1 John 2:1, NLT)

Believers are responsible for repenting of their sins after they are born-again!
They have been given the Holy Spirit, a totally new nature, and God’s word.
So, they have been enabled to be victorious overcomers over sin, the world,
and the devil. They have no excuse for failing to do this.

“Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord.
Perhaps He will forgive your evil thoughts (i.e. sins).” (Acts 8:22, NLT)

“Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have
received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice
that will cover these sins” (Hebrews 10:26, NLT)

Jesus warns 5 of the 7 churches to repent in Revelation 2 - Revelation 3.

“Repent (metanoeo) and believe (pisteou) may be understood as opposite sides of the same coin.
Repent means to turn from one’s allegiance to sin and unbelief, whereas believe means
to place one’s trust in Christ. Thus when one is mentioned the other is implied.
… John never used the words repent, repentance, or faith to describe the way people are saved.
Instead, he used believe since this term included all of these ideas.”
(The Holman Christian Standard Bible)

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Yes, if someone is Truly Saved, they have become a new creature in Christ and the urges of the old self that were worldly and brought sin unto death are fought for you and you are greatly protected. You will still sin but it should be blind sin and you will be corrected quickly in Christ.
That God for The Christ.

Monksailor said:

Here is the Apostle Paul's response, "15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.c]">[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful natured]">[d] a slave to the law of sin." (Bible Gateway passage: Romans 7:15-25 - New International Version)

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There is little point using scripture if you are not going to explain it

what do you think is that non wilful sin, covertness? He used that previously

CharismaticLady said:

Who taught you that?

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arent u the one who distinguished between wilful and non wilful? You don’t want to elaborate on the difference?

I attend a charismatic church if that answer is important to you

Bible Highlighter said:

Try re-reading 1 John 1:7. For according to 1 John 1:7, it essentially says the blood of Jesus cleanses us of all sin if we "walk in the light."

"Walking in the light" is implied strongly as: "loving your brother" according to 1 John 2:9-11. 1 John 3:10 says whoever does not love his brother is not of God. 1 John 3:15 says whoever hates his brother is like a murderer, and no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Now, it's your turn to either:

(a) Change these verses, or
(b) Ignore them, or
(c) Simply agree with them in what they plainly say.

Choose wisely.

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all believers are automatically under the light and walking under it

BCsenior said:

Continuing repentance is necessary for having an acceptable heart attitude before the Lord.

At the moment you were born-again …
you were only forgiven of the sins you had committed up to that point in time!

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You seem to imply that we are aware of all our later sins. Is it not sin, for example, to put yourself above your neighbor? --yet are we aware when we do that? It is not only deeds, but the heart that God looks on.

Are people forgiven for the sins of the past that they remember, or all sinfulness? Is that because they repented, or because they were born again?

Al Touthentop said:

I agree with you but I also think that the goal is perfection. And when we fall short, isn't it amazing that we have such a loving God that will forgive us?

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Yes, it is.