Question:
Hi, Greg,
I
have a question about sin. If a
person generally repents of sin but still struggles with certain things that are
harder to change such as attitudes and negative emotions, will they not be
forgiven if they fail to completely stop these sins before they die?
I
was told that you are only forgiven the sins you repent of.
That means to sin NO MORE in that area.
I never heard Jesus say you must be perfect in this lifetime—it’s
impossible! But I still worry
because it seems that there are certain sins that I cannot overcome.
If this is an underlying unwillingness to part with an aspect of myself,
then am I unforgivable? Or did Jesus
die for that weakness too? I guess
the main question is: is complete and total repentance of all sin necessary for
salvation? It would seem like we
should despise the fact that we’re human and I just don’t know how to feel
that way. What do you think?
Thanks
again,
Robyn
Answer: Dear Robyn,
Perfection
is not necessary for salvation. If
it were, then only the man Jesus would be saved for he alone lived a perfect
human life.
Forgiveness
is not based upon what we do before we are forgiven, or what we do after—for
if it is and was then no human would be forgiven.
We are in the flesh and therefore incapable of perfection.
Therefore, God forgives us knowing that we will probably goof up again,
in the same way we have. This is not
to say that he encourages our doing so, but it is to say that his forgiveness is
based upon his goodness and not at all upon ours.
If
forgiveness is based upon a specific request of God about the specific sin and
incident that needs to be forgiven, then we are all sunk—because we will never
remember all of the sins we have committed.
Such a teaching is absolutely ludicrous and unbiblical.
We
have two great booklets we can send you to help you with these and related
questions: “I’ll Forgive You If…” and “Journey to Faith—Good
News”, a booklet about legalism and its impact upon our lives.
Let me know if you want either or both and a mailing address to which you
would like them sent.
In
Christ,