Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have noticed that when we sin, it separates us from God. This is understandable, but after we repent from whatever sin we have committed how can we restore this relationship and closeness to God again that we once had before? Sometimes I struggle with recovering well after sinning, especially with condemnation, etc. I don't want to despise God's discipline by allowing myself to feel hopeless. I think it's good I fear the Lord and I thank God for that greatly and I never want to feel comfortable with sin, but sometimes I allow that fear to become more than it should be by feeling condemned.
I have noticed that when we sin, it separates us from God. This is understandable, but after we repent from whatever sin we have committed how can we restore this relationship and closeness to God again that we once had before? Sometimes I struggle with recovering well after sinning, especially with condemnation, etc. I don't want to despise God's discipline by allowing myself to feel hopeless. I think it's good I fear the Lord and I thank God for that greatly and I never want to feel comfortable with sin, but sometimes I allow that fear to become more than it should be by feeling condemned.
Simply put, while you can never break your eternal relationship with God sin does disrupt your temporal relationship, your fellowship with God in time. To recover from that, you simply do what 1 John 1:9 says to do. Simply name, identify, confess your sin to God. The moment you do that you regain the filling of the Holy Spirit and are restored to fellowship with God.
You can never lose the indwelling of the Holy Spirit but sin does result in quenching (1 Thessalonians 5:19) or grieving (Ephesians 4:30) the Holy Spirit. We are never commanded to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit since that is permanent, but we are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
So when as a believer you commit a sin, you get out of fellowship, and when you simply confess the sin to God you are restored to fellowship regardless of how you feel afterwards. You may or may not feel guilty about the sin but regardless of how you feel about it you have been restored to fellowship and back in a position to advance in your spiritual life.
God doesn't demand that you do penance for your sins or to feel guilty about the sin. Nowhere in the Bible will you find anything about doing penance. It isn't there. Some theological systems such as Roman Catholicism teach penance, but it's not in the Bible. Simply confessing the sin is. God simply wants you to acknowledge that you sinned. And in grace, since the sin you committed was already judged at the cross as Jesus bore that sin in his own body, God forgives you. So confess the sin and move on with your spiritual life.
I should also point out that any divine discipline incurred for the sin may continue after having confessed the sin. But if it does it is for the purpose of blessing. See Hebrews 12:4-12 concerning that.
Last edited by Michael Way; 11-15-2021 at 08:24 AM..
If we break a window, we don't just apologize and move on. We clean up the broken glass.
It's not that simple - especially when getting into addictive and repeated sins... and then you deal with self-condemnation. You have to do some internal work and correct the soul and spirit so that the fruit of our actions is better - which is true repentance is turning from old sinful habits.
Otherwise you do penance... nothing changes on the inside... and you sin again... and you do penance again...
It's not that simple - especially when getting into addictive and repeated sins... and then you deal with self-condemnation. You have to do some internal work and correct the soul and spirit so that the fruit of our actions is better - which is true repentance is turning from old sinful habits.
Otherwise you do penance... nothing changes on the inside... and you sin again.
I never said it was simple; but doing penance with a contrite heart can absolutely bring about changes in behavior. Of course, you need the sacramental grace that only Christ can give in order to truly bring about change in your heart.
Face to face confession with a Priest is a powerful deterrent to committing repeated sins.
I never said it was simple; but doing penance with a contrite heart can absolutely bring about changes in behavior. Of course, you need the sacramental grace that only Christ can give in order to truly bring about change in your heart.
Face to face confession with a Priest is a powerful deterrent to committing repeated sins.
Well - your response in post #2 was pretty simplistic. And for some - that may be all that's needed. I didn't say you were wrong.
Everyone is different.
So some may require an understanding of who they are in Christ, and how that should affect how they live.
If you pray openly and honestly before God, he forgets the sin / offense (that's what's written). So, first - acknowledge what's written and don't keep hanging onto it, and secondly - act different in the future to reduce the likelihood of it happening again. It's forward/future-directed, not looking behind you, like the Lot's wife situation. Moping around in doubt is a loser's approach, so be a winner instead.
If we break a window, we don't just apologize and move on. We clean up the broken glass.
I have a question for you, Mike. In know that in Catholicism, when a person goes to confession, he is generally given a specific number of prayers or recitations to say each day (e.g., Our Father, Hail, Mary) in order to be absolved of the sin they have confessed. In confession, is there any discussion of recompense (i.e., cleaning up the glass and perhaps replacing it) or is that just something that a person is supposed to take care of as he is guided to by his conscience?
I have noticed that when we sin, it separates us from God. This is understandable, but after we repent from whatever sin we have committed how can we restore this relationship and closeness to God again that we once had before? Sometimes I struggle with recovering well after sinning, especially with condemnation, etc. I don't want to despise God's discipline by allowing myself to feel hopeless. I think it's good I fear the Lord and I thank God for that greatly and I never want to feel comfortable with sin, but sometimes I allow that fear to become more than it should be by feeling condemned.
To me, repentance involves (1) a recognition of one's sin, (2) a feeling of sincere remorse, (3) confession of that sin -- either to God or to the person you sinned against, or both, depending upon the situation, (4) reparation for the sin, to the extent possible and (5) resolving to do better in the future. I believe that once we have done these things, we should be able to trust that the relationship has, in fact, been restored. If we still carry around the burden of our guilt, then we are in effect, telling Jesus that we don't trust in His ability to make us whole again. And when you stop to think about it, that's an even greater sin than the one we committed in the first place. We have to believe that He has repaired the relationship, and remember to thank Him for doing so. Then we have to move on, as He would want us to do. That's a demonstration of our faith in Him.
Last edited by Katzpur; 11-15-2021 at 10:12 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
