Question from a Site Viewer
I have been a “Christian” for many years. But I have lied, cheated, committed sexual sin . . . I am ashamed of my sin. I have repented and tried to overcome the weight of this sin, but I have been under a horrid condemnation. I have been living a nightmare for quite some time and I feel that I am beyond all hope of being forgiven of these things. I long for Jesus, but am afraid He wants nothing to do with me. I am depressed and the emptiness and silence are tearing me apart. Am I really beyond hope?
Tim’s Answer
I understand the angst you have over your past sin. All of our sins are awful. But having confessed the sin, we need to exercise faith in believing that God is true to his word in forgiving our sins and cleansing us. This is not a feeling to be experienced, but a fact to be believed. Having confessed and repented (turned to God) we should no longer turn back to our sins. Accept His forgiveness, praise Him for His forgiveness, give thanks for His forgiveness, and live the rest of your life in service to Him. What you are doing is confessing but then believing that God is like us and that when we sin too greatly against Him, He will not forgive us. Nothing could be farther from the truth. This is the lesson of the prodigal son, and David, and Manasseh, and me. We all have horribly offended our God. But His mercy is open for all who repent and turn to Him. We all live in great gratitude of His forgiveness and find it incredible that He is willing to use us in His great kingdom. Don’t look anymore to your sin. There is no penance you need to do. There is no groveling you need to do. Rather, we should celebrate His forgiveness. All He asks is confession and a turning back to Him. He forgives, restores, and calls us to now serve Him with out love, devotion, and life.
Hi, I cannot help but understand on a personal level how this individual reflects my fears, and sorrow. I have addictions, sexual sins, stealing, lying… without God, I believe I would be dead. I love God, but I feel that by not repenting, my life is so much harder. I believe Christ died on the cross. I am so sorry, Jesus :(. Please help me start anew!
Andrew, God heard that. 🙂 And He will honor that. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
I have learned years ago that repentance is not only the words of repentance but the ACTS of turning from the sin. Which I have. This was decades ago, and I thought or felt that I had been forgiven but some years ago, decades after the sin, something happened in church and I felt like my insides were being ripped out like gutting fish and cast down to hell. I have been tossing and turning, hearing voices day and night.
I am thinking MAYBE this has to do with Jesus returning and rewarding us [good and BAD (on my part)] for what we done while as the body of Christ -for what we have done since becoming a Christian. Slowly Jesus is bringing me out of this ‘wilderness’ experience!