“How Much Will God Forgive?”

Friday, October 26, 2012

While having a discussion, someone said that if you ask for forgiveness for your sins and transgressions, God will only forgive you one time.  My belief is that even if you live your whole life sinning – and at the end, if you ask and believe, God will forgive you, and you will go to heaven.  Who's right?

Sincerely,
Limitless Forgiveness

Dear Limitless Forgiveness,

God will forgive you more than one time.  John says that as we walk in the light, we have fellowship with Jesus, and He cleanses us from all sin (1 Jn 1:7).  The apostle John also said that if we confess our sins, we will be forgiven (1 Jn 1:9).  The number of times a christian will do that in their lifetime is without number.  Of course, these verses apply to those who already have become christians.  If you have not yet become a christian, there is more to it than simply confessing your sins.

In the book of Acts, we see what it takes to become a christian.  When Peter was asked by the Jews what they needed to do to be saved (Acts 2:37), Peter told them they needed to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38).  Everyone who wants to become a christian must be baptized to be saved (Mk 16:16, 1 Pet 3:21).  After repenting of your sins (‘repent’ means ‘change your mind’), the lost person is fully immersed in water and buried with Christ through baptism (Rom 6:4).  Once someone is baptized for forgiveness of their sins, they are a christian.  Then the continual cleansing described in First John would apply.

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