Do we need to repent more than once to stay saved?

seed_time_harvest · Oct 13, 2021

I know that there Is the book by John that says

1 John 1:9
King James Version
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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I think this scripture Is talking about coming to CHRIST and not talking about a person needs to continually ask to be forgiven after salvation.

Gideon300 · Oct 14, 2021

seed_time_harvest said:

Sin is a debt that we owe God. Lord Jesus has already paid for all the sins of all mankind, since Adam in the past and to the last sin to be committed in the future. In Christ we are already redeemed and forgiven. We still can and do sin. When we do, we need cleansing. What must be cleansed is the conscience. If we do not confess, the conscience remains defiled, we become weak and lose fellowship with God. We cannot lose relationship. Eternal life is just that - eternal.

Some sins are the result of a wrong attitude. The only way to be free of the sin cycle is to have a new attitude. This is when repentance is required. For example, a proud person may not even realise that they are proud. God will expose this one way or another. In order to be free, the Christian will need to acknowledge that he is proud and be willing to change. Repentance is a change of mind. What we thought was fine before we now know to be sin. We can either try really hard to change ourselves - fruitless and depressing - or we can ask God to change us. This God does by exchange. We have everything that we need in Christ. So we should ask Lord Jesus to be our humility in place of our pride. We can and should resist pride, but only Lord Jesus can positively cause us to be humble. With God, it is always "change by exchange". We can save ourselves a world of hurt and grief by giving up on trying to improve self. Lord Jesus is the life of the Christian. Let Him be that in practice, not just theory.

rayzor · Oct 14, 2021

I know the Saints they are Perpetual repenters. It like fish in water the new nature.

Deuteronomy · Oct 14, 2021

seed_time_harvest said:

Hello Seed_Time_Harvest, I will have to respectfully disagree with you about who 1 John 1:9 was/is addressed to. Take note that the elder Apostle John includes ~himself~ in the mix of believers who need to confess their ongoing sins to God (to be forgiven and cleansed of them .. not for the sake of maintaining our salvation, but for the sake of our ongoing/growing relationship with our Father).

As such, I also believe that 1 John 1/2 was written to the saints in the church at ~all~ levels of maturity in the Christian faith (see the words in bold below).

1 John 1

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

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous 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.

1 John 2

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.

4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;

5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:

6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.

8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.

9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.

10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.

13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.

14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

God bless you!

~Deut
p.s. - what human to human relationship can remain healthy and close if the people involved in the relationship do not ask to be forgiven whenever they hurt/sin against one another

(so it is with our relationship with God) Remember, for instance, when King David sinned against God (murder and adultery). He asked God to forgive him and to restore the "joy" of his salvation, not salvation itself .. which as @Gideon300 has already mentioned, is not lost when we sin (as we are given "eternal (not probationary) life" from the moment that we first believe .. e.g. Psalm 51:12; John 5:24).

Blik · Oct 14, 2021

When we repent of our sins we don't want to sin. We can't say that we repented yesterday, so today we now want to sin. That would be like the son who told his Dad he would go work in the vineyard but never went to work.

Matt. 21:28
What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

Hungry · Oct 14, 2021

seed_time_harvest said:

Let’s change the focus a bit. Out of nowhere, some wealthy business owner comes to you and says, “Seedtime, I think you’re awesome, I want you to come work for me. Not only am I going pay off your mortgage and all of your credit cards but I’m going to adopt you. You will get a mansion and an inheritance when I’m done with this huge project I’m working on.” You originally are thinking, wow, this is the best day of my life, it’s so surreal. Then you become the best employee for the first month. You understood it was a job but some of the company policies are hard like no eating at your desk, but you prefer to eat at your desk because the cafeteria is like a mile away. Also, no flirting with the secretary. She’s married to the bosses other adopted son. She’s so cute and bubbly. Her smile is infectious and you just want to make her laugh because when she laughs it’s like music, and you’re hilarious. So, eventually, you get hungry and all you can smell is your favourite snack, so you look around, and don’t think anyone is watching. You lean over and shove the whole piece of pie in your mouth. As soon as you straighten up, the Boss is right in front of you. “Watcha doin’, Seedtime?” You can’t even answer because you will be spitting crumbs at Him. Busted! You freak out and start apologizing because now that your blood sugar returned to normal you realize how stupid that was. The Boss is so generous and the rule so simple. He says, “No problem, don’t let it happen again.” …but it happens again…and again. Now you think Dude doesn’t even care. He knows I obviously have low blood sugar. If He really didn’t want me to eat at my desk he would put my desk beside the cafeteria so I wouldn’t be tempted. It’s kinda His fault. Then your secretary is particularly giddy one day and YOU ARE ON! Every comment is comedic gold. She is radiating joy with each laugh, and reaches across and touches your cheek and tells you she doesn’t get to laugh like that at home. Her husband is a serious sort and has no sense of humour. She tells you she wants you to make her laugh hard…and long. Then the Boss interrupts, “Hey Seedtime, whatcha doin’?” Sorry hardly seems adequate but it’s all you got. “No problem, don’t let it happen again.” Then he walks away dragging the crumbs off His shoes from the pile of cupcake debris surrounding your desk. You sort of feel you dodged a bullet but the only distraction to your relief is the echo of that sweet laughter repeating in your head. Then instead of thinking about how awesome your Boss is and the great retirement plan, all you can think is, I’m going to make her SCREAM with laughter. The Boss is just going to forgive me anyway.

Aidan1 · Oct 14, 2021

Deuteronomy said: