WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU REPENT AND SIN AGAIN?

.Are you feeling stuck in a cycle of sin and repentance? You’re not alone. Millions of Christians today struggle with the same sin. They genuinely repent of that sin, promising God that they will never do it again and yet, find themselves committing the same sin over and over again!

So, let me ask you these questions. What happens if you repent and sin again? Can you really be forgiven multiple times for the same sin? Does God’s patience have a breaking point where God will say,” That’s it! I’m done. You’re hopeless!

Tonight, we are going to answer hose questions and help you better understand from the Bible perspective what repentance truly means and the role of God’s grace in our struggle with sin Does this sound good?

INTRODUCTION

Picture this, you’ve just had a moment of profound clarity. The weight of your wrongdoings bears heavily on your conscience, and you find yourself on your knees, asking for divine forgiveness. You rise, feeling a sense of liberation and renewed purpose. But then, life happens. temptation sneaks back in and despite your best intentions, you falter and sin again. It’s a scenario familiar to many, echoing through the hearts of believers for centuries.

So, what happens next? Does Go.s mercy have a limit? Are repeated sins a sign of spiritual failure, or it there a deeper more compassionate understanding within the pages of the Bible? Thankfully, the Word of God gives us the answer and systematically answers our question for today, let me share with you three points to consider.

1. GOD FORGIVES OUR SINS

The Bible is clear that God is merciful. There are several verses to prove this, which include the following:

Psalm 103:8–12 “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

Lamentations 3:22–23 “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Ephesians 2:4–5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Micah 7:18–19 “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”

Titus 3:4–5 “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,”

Psalm 86:5 “You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.”

Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”

James 5:11 “As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

Psalm 145:8–9 “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Notice that God is not just merciful, but He is also gracious. God created us and thus, He knows our frame. He knows how frail and weak we are. He understands our struggle with sin. What’s more we have Christ sitting st the right hand of the Father, serving as our High Priest and advocate, who also experienced how it’s like to be a human being.

Therefore, His mercy is unlimited. His mercy is beyond human comprehension. He will readily forgive us when we repent of our sins.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Remember, Jesus Christ died for our sins. This means that we can come boldly to the Throne of grace and ask for forgiveness of our sins. So, therefore, what happens if you repent and sin again? You need to ask for forgiveness again. This leads us to the next point.

2. YOUR REPENTANCE SHOULD BE GENUINE

The Bible tells us that you can repent, but you really don’t mean it.

2 Corinthians 7:10 “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

So, there is the godly sorrow and the worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow leads to salvation, while worldly sorrow leads to death. What does this mean? Godly sorrow is being sorry for your sins. It is having a heartfelt remorse for the sin you have done knowing that you have sinned against God. Because you are sorrowful over your sins, you decide to turn away from the path of wickedness to the path of righteousness.

In short, your repentance involves a change in direction. remember, repentance came from the Greek word, “metanoia” which means a change of mind, So, there must be a change involved.

On the other hand, worldly sorrow is simply you are sorry because of the consequences of the sin you have committed. It’s like a criminal who is sorry simply because he got caught. A person who experienced worldly sorrow can repent but stop feeling sorry. He never sees the need to change.

For God to forgive us, we need to have godly sorrow, meaning it’s repentance coupled with the will to change for the better.

3. CHRISTIANS ARE IMPERFECT PEOPLE

Her’s what you need to understand, even if you have godly sorrow and you have genuinely repented of your sins, you would still sin and at times, you’ll be committing the same sin over and over again.

Genuinely repenting of your sins does not mean that the temptation is suddenly removed. It doesn’t mean that you will never be tempted again. A Christian life is a struggle. Even the Apostle Paul, someone who we consider a man of God, also experienced this struggle against sin.

Romans 7:15 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

So, we can’t deny that temptation will always be there. However, here’s the thing, as long as we struggle against sin, it means that we are still fighting against sin. This means that we want to change. We want to overcome sins. We want to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

As long as you struggle and you repent of your sins, God will forgive you. The problem happens when we stop struggling, when we simply give up and accept that we can’t overcome sin. That’s the time when you will be in danger of God’s fiery judgement.

Hebrews 10:26–27 “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”

So, there will come a time when we simply accept our sins, live in our sins, and don’t want to change anymore. When we don’t repent and struggle with our sins anymore, when we sin willfully, meaning we know full well that what we are doing is a sin and we consciously, deliberately, and intentionally sin, then the Bible tells us that there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful expectation of judgement.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In summary, God is merciful, gracious, and kind. He is always ready to forgive us our sins every time we repent. However, our repentance must be genuine, coupled with the comittment to do better. It’s like running the Christian race. You may stumble every now and then during the race, but as long as you continue running, you will eventually reach the finish line. However, if you decide to stop running, then you will never cross the finish line.

So, do you best to overcome sin. Repent when you have sinned again. Just don’t give up. The important thing is that you are making progress. Little by little, you will find yourself overcoming that stubborn sin, and don’t forget, you can overcome because God is with you. He is more than willing to help you in your struggle with sin.