Do we trust God to continually forgive us as Christians?
Do we hesitate to go to God, because we feel we are not worthy for forgiveness?
While many people who are not genuine Christians continue in their sin believing God forgives them because they prayed a prayer sometime in their life even though they ignore God now, some of us who are genuine Christians still struggle with sinful thoughts & attitudes every day. Although we may distain our sin & are sorry & plead for forgiveness, sometimes it can be difficult to believe God actually does forgive us when we sin sooo much. I can beat myself up feeling like I should spend more time sorrowing over the sin, as though God won't forgive me if I don't. The sins of thought can be the most burdensome to battle. In years past, I would wallow a little more in my wrongdoing, since I already needed forgiving. That was a wrong attitude, & I learned to fight against the sin by prayer & Bible verses as soon as possible when the thoughts began.
If you also struggle with weakness, & trusting God to forgive you, the video below may be an encouragement to you. It is something that I need to keep reminding myself of ... God does forgive & I must trust His forgiveness. I can't make Him forgive me more by spending more time punishing myself with guilt. I have to remind myself that God will keep me. He will not let me go....even when I struggle with the sin of doubt. This doesn't mean I want to sin without conscience or without battling or without confessing to Him. It means that I need to believe that God has forgiven me & will keep forgiving me no matter how guilty I feel or how much I have sinned.
While it is good to test oneself to see if one is in the faith like the Bible says, I do believe that some people need to be careful that they don't destroy true Christians by keeping them in continual doubt about their salvation. Not everyone who struggles with sin is a false convert.
Salvation isn't about our goodness. It's about looking to Jesus the Author & Finisher of our faith.
Salvation is by faith through grace, & we aren't going to finish it ourselves by doing good works or meeting an ideal of perfection here on earth. There will be fruit in a Christian's life, but Christians do go through seasons in their life where they need to be encouraged & not judged by other Christians as tares instead of weak wheat.
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While many people who are not genuine Christians continue in their sin believing God forgives them because they prayed a prayer sometime in their life even though they ignore God now, some of us who are genuine Christians still struggle with sinful thoughts & attitudes every day. Although we may distain our sin & are sorry & plead for forgiveness, sometimes it can be difficult to believe God actually does forgive us when we sin sooo much. I can beat myself up feeling like I should spend more time sorrowing over the sin, as though God won't forgive me if I don't. The sins of thought can be the most burdensome to battle. In years past, I would wallow a little more in my wrongdoing, since I already needed forgiving. That was a wrong attitude, & I learned to fight against the sin by prayer & Bible verses as soon as possible when the thoughts began.
If you also struggle with weakness, & trusting God to forgive you, the video below may be an encouragement to you. It is something that I need to keep reminding myself of ... God does forgive & I must trust His forgiveness. I can't make Him forgive me more by spending more time punishing myself with guilt. I have to remind myself that God will keep me. He will not let me go....even when I struggle with the sin of doubt. This doesn't mean I want to sin without conscience or without battling or without confessing to Him. It means that I need to believe that God has forgiven me & will keep forgiving me no matter how guilty I feel or how much I have sinned.
While it is good to test oneself to see if one is in the faith like the Bible says, I do believe that some people need to be careful that they don't destroy true Christians by keeping them in continual doubt about their salvation. Not everyone who struggles with sin is a false convert.
Salvation isn't about our goodness. It's about looking to Jesus the Author & Finisher of our faith.
Salvation is by faith through grace, & we aren't going to finish it ourselves by doing good works or meeting an ideal of perfection here on earth. There will be fruit in a Christian's life, but Christians do go through seasons in their life where they need to be encouraged & not judged by other Christians as tares instead of weak wheat.
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