QUESTION:
I believe that repentance means a sincere change in heart,
I believe that if you continue on sin after receiving the knowledge of truth
there is no sacrifice left, and that’s passed present and future. You can pray
every day for forgiveness and whilst you lessen it daily, if you die, you’ll go
to heaven because your soul is pure because you repent daily, and you know you
will so your forgiven.
But I believe that, daily sins, greed, sloth, idolatry,
envy, wrath, and willful deliberate sin, undeniably inserts a massive amount of
guilt upon your spirit, in which cannot be released without repentance to
Christ, and continuously doing it again after repentance without a change in your
ways, is not sincere, and you are taking Christs forgiveness for your own
earthly pleasure.
That’s what I believe, and that’s what I will continue to
believe, there is no justification for willful deliberate sin. it must be
stopped, for the purification of your soul, and for your soul to remain sinless
and spotless enough to enter heaven, and through Christs gift of forgiveness
all sin can be forgiven, including adultery, homosexuality, murder, and
multiple other sins, where you would be put to death before Christ.
ANSWER:
I hear the sincerity in your reply and commend you on your love for Christ and your commitment to live pure and in a continual state of readiness for Him. My only appeal to you is that you do not put yourself under personal rules to try and be righteous. If you believe in Christ, you are already righteous in God’s eyes, not by your own righteous works, but by Christ’s righteousness imputed to you.
The only thing that the law can do is condemn you when you fail it. And believe me, fail it you will. The flesh is strong. But because of your faith in Christ, you remain justified because God has promised you this gift.
Rom_4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Corinthians tells one that “the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor.15:56). When you put yourself under the law to maintain righteousness, it empowers sin. Look at the Galatians. Paul speaks boldly to them saying,
Gal 5:1-4 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised [trying to gain righteousness by the law], Christ shall profit you nothing. 3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised [trying to gain righteousness by the law], that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
So, what then do we do if we cannot strive for righteousness by our own works? Paul has the answer for us,
Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
To come out from under the power of sin, which is by the law [trying to gain righteousness by the law], you walk by the Spirit. How does one do that? You walk by the sound instruction of the Word, (specifically Paul’s epistles - start with Romans chapters 1–8, as they are the foundational knowledge of God’s grace over sin). Read those 8-chapters of Romans over and over so you can gain an understanding of its truth. As you gain understanding of grace and start to apply it in your walk, you will start to “walk in the Spirit”, and then you will really start to have victory over the sins of the flesh, not by laws, but by the Spirit as the verses in Gal.5:16–18 above confirm.
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