If I cannot accept forgiveness will I always fail as a Christian? (Serious, life or death question)

I guess I should clarify. We are all sinners. We will all continue to sin in this life. Some more than others, however.

Is there a specific and habitual sin you know you must cease but are not taking steps to remedy?

Last Edited by Elegant Walnut on 12/17/2016 02:19 PM

And, as a human.

Thank you so much I will look into this novel! And here is a comment from another reply that goes right in line with what you said. At least you seem to understand where I'm coming from.

if I am my own worst enemy (which is very true at times) then I must, according to Matthew 5:44, "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," and that includes loving, praying for and forgiving myself.

If I hate myself how can I love my neighbor as I am called to love as I love myself?

Yes.

Well, I always say that if you cannot forgive someone else, then ask God to help you to forgive. So, ask Him to help you forgive yourself.

Me114

You are right you cannot do it on your own. You need the power of the Set Apart Spirit to help you. But in addition to this, we are commanded to confess our sins to others and excersize our will.


Have you confessed this sin to someone you trust? Someone, perhaps, that can help you? Please do this, at the very least so they can pray for you. This is important, and scriptural.

Secondly, do you have a plan to work towards overcoming?


I say all this because of your concern about being forgiveness. I believe your worry is likely related directly to this habitual, specific (and unconfessed?) sin.

I feel strongly about this OP. I believe the Ruach is prompting me on this one...

Last Edited by Elegant Walnut on 12/17/2016 02:35 PM

Thank you very much I will do this. I don't really have many men in my life that I trust but I will pray and ask the Lord to please give me someone in my life that I can talk to about these things and come up with a plan towards overcoming. I believe you too!

for me, Christ taught a few main lessons.
forgiveness
love/acceptance
the golden rule

others will add.. that he is the son of god, etc., etc.,

i believe a true Christians tries to emulate Christ. they should try to be as christlike as possible.....

therefore, if you can't practice his three main lessons, as I listed, then you are a poorly practicing Christian...
why even call yourself one, if you can't even practice his last dying example... forgive them father, for they not know what they've done....

be like christ, or don't.....

Christians are some of the most hypocritical people I've met.. please be different op, and act like your savior.

May our merciful Father bless you. I will make petition to Him on your behalf.

The best cure for doubting gods love is to have children.

So, what your saying is, you cannot find a passage.

All sin is against God. If you where to punch me in the face, whom did you sin against? God.

How can you forgive yourself, when you sinned against God? Even if you sin against yourself, you have sinned against God, and only God can forgive it. God forgives sin, via Jesus Christ, because God loves Jesus Christ, his Only Begotten Son.

So all his Son, Jesus, has to do, is whisper a name to God, and that person is forgiven.

Read the Word, study the Teachings of your Master, our Savior Jesus Christ, and seek forgiveness.

Remember this:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

You realize, what most do not, that we are poor in spirit, so you do, as any who had your realization would do, you mourn and lament.

Seek the Word, seek the teachings as found in Matthew. Keep close to your heart, the sayings of Jesus Christ, and ask God to forgive you your sin's, via Jesus Christ, his Only Begotten Son.

When you have doubts in your heart, remember the Holy prayer, the Our Father:

Our Father, Who is in heaven
Sacred be Your Name;
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into the test,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Then remember to be charitable, for charity will cover a multitude of sin's.

It took me around 15 years to stop an addiction I had even though I was Christian. Towards the later years of it I questioned myself, would I ever be able to stop? If not I would go to Hell. God stepped in soon after and my physical urges for the addiction subsided. All I did was persevere in prayer and confession. Keep in mind that God takes into account your weakness and compulsion to sin. You may be too weak to stop under your own power so you need God to step in and help. I believe over time, sinful addictions will cease completely so don't lose hope. God knows what you need.

You didn't sin against yourself, you sinned against God, therefore you cannot actually forgive yourself, so you might as well stop trying.

Accept your place; you are a sinner and can do nothing to change that. Ever.

We bring nothing to the table, it is all just grace. Thankfully.

Ask God to show you your sin, then, when you hate it enough, ask him to cleanse you of it. When he does, remember it was him.

Last Edited by Beneneth on 12/17/2016 03:29 PM

Do not spit in the face of our Heavenly Father by refusing to accept His Most Gracious Gift. Nothing gives God greater joy than granting forgiveness to those who have sinned, then repented and asked for His forgiveness. You don't do this for your own gratification, but to glorify and magnify the Lord!

Jesus said to forgive 77 times, not literally, but meaning you're forgiven as many times as you need to ask for forgiveness. Salvation is a lifelong process.

OP, your post touched me deeply.

All I can offer is that I know that we are ALL loved more than we can possibly believe or comprehend.

I would suggest that you read "Proof of Heaven" by Dr. Eben Alexander and "The Afterlife of Billy Fingers" by Annie Kagan.

These two books changed my entire spiritual outlook on life and beyond. In these books, I believe that'll you'll find insight and answers which will be of great help to you now. Just suggesting.

Forgiving ourselves is so very hard but without doing so we're kept from sharing our love and goodness with others.

Hang in there and KNOW that you are loved and forgiven more than you'll ever imagine!!!

First, you cannot under ANY circumstances EARN your way into heaven. But accepting our Lord's free gift of salvation does not require you to earn anything. It is a free gift, freely given. Believe and freely accept it. It is simple. There are no other stipulations beyond repentance, which I believe you have done already.

I see no requirement in the bible to forgive yourself. I think your teachers' requirement for your to forgive yourself is based in their humanist psychology training, which is not from the bible. Stick with the bible for your instruction. And I don't think that verse to 'forgive others lest you not be forgiven' applies to self, but rather to others only. Being hard on others is a sign of a lack of love, but being hard on self is a sign of piety and humility. And the closer we get to Yahweh, the more painfully we feel our sins.

If honest with ourselves, we know that we are wretched sinners. We know there is no reason for God to forgive us. We know there is nothing we can do to earn our way into the Kingdom. We hate our flesh and our sinful deeds. The Apostle Paul struggled with sin all the time, and he hated himself for it. Are we any better than him?

I suggest that you don't worry about forgiving yourself. Repent and believe that Yahweh's grace and Yahshua's perfect sacrifice to cover your sins are sufficient. Throw yourself at the feet of Yahshua and beg Him for mercy and forgiveness. Do this and trust Him that He will work it all out for you. Let Him handle all the details. Then be the best servant you can be for Him; not perfect, but better than yesterday. It's all in His hands anyway. Keep your eyes focused on Him. And trust Him.

Peace.

Maranatha!

Turning it around made sense for me - it became less & less logical to keep condemning myself when I have minimal right or inclination to condemn others for whatever state they're currently in.

Eyes upward is the best approach. It's not easy to keep dwelling on our own failure once it sinks in that He's counted the cost and isn't going to somehow fail at saving you or anyone else. Whatever isn't right, whatever is out of balance or wayward or corrupt, He's going to remedy. There's no escape.

Quote:
What I CANNOT believe, no matter how hard I try to bring myself to accept this - is that a wretch such as myself could be forgiven.

That's a trap!

You MUST find a way to forgive yourself...or yes, you will be doomed by your own hand.

YOU MUST FIGURE IT OUT AND FIND A WAY!!!

You cannot forgive yourself, for it is not yours to do.

OP God loves you and you make him proud.

Publican, would you please ponder the possibility that the reason you cannot/will not forgive yourself may be seated in the idea that you cannot obtain that which you are reaching for because you have been foolish in the past?

In other words, might you be so overwhelmed with regret because you don't have the life you want because of foolish choices and decisions you've made in the past?

I often struggle with deep shame and regret because I was foolish in my younger years - I work harder now than I would otherwise because I was a fool, BUT, here's the Good News:

God WILL "...restore the years the canker worm has eaten"!

I think in most cases we overwhelm ourselves by focusing on what we don't have as opposed to choosing to recognize that God has already given us all we need for life and godliness!

I don't know Publican, but I suspect that you're refusing to take your eyes off of what you can see to free yourself to live/walk by faith! Perhaps you're so focused on what you want you're sacrificing the opportunity to surrender to The Lordship of Christ!

If you are born again, you *do not* belong to yourself! You belong to God! As such, you are to be a trusting servant that remembers he follows a GOOD God!

God Is indeed GOOD - I know that when despair washes over me it is because I've taken my eyes off The Lord and turn them to self-worship!

You are joyless because you're eyes are not upon The Lord! When you (and I) choose recognize Him for Who He Is...the cares of this world fade and are replaced with an excited anticipation of discovering what He Is doing!

Publican, God *wants* to bless you more than you want to be blessed! But He demands we (in real terms) place our hope, faith and trust in Him! Our charge is to answer the tests and trials He places in our lives in a manner that proves our faith in Him!

*IF* you allow Him, God WILL take the mess you've made of your life and make something astonishing beautiful out of it, BUT, *ALL* will be on His terms! You MUST *LOSE* your life to find it, but if you (we) continue to seek to save our lives...we *WILL* lose it!

Sounds like you're in a perfect place to exchange your sorrow for excited and hope-filled expectation of what our GOOD and Loving God will do...if you allow Him to do so!

There's no gray area - it's all black and white - we're either worshiping Him, or, we're worshiping ourselves!

Choose LIFE Publican...choose Him on His terms!

There will likely be pain involved, but I've found the pain that is most excruciating comes from the death of the flesh!

Go boldly into the fires BECAUSE HE IS with you!

This is Satan's number one way to take away your faith. Never,ever let your sin separate you from Jesus.

1John 1:9

No, it is appropriate to always keep in mind that we don't deserve Christ's mercy. We sinners each deserve crucifixion for our failures. Perfect Jesus paid the price for us. Eternal humility for unmerited grace is right and good.

Yes, you have to accept that you are forgiven, Christ paid the full price to redeem you at the cross. To not do so is unbelief.
You are not the worst wretch ever, trust me, others, including myself, were way worse.

Yes, yes yes yes yes.

A thousand times yes.

This post right here.

Thank you, J. Yet again God has used you to make a tremendous impact on my life.

I'm actually printing out your response so I can spend some alone time with the Lord in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to help me surrender and to choose Life.

Brother, I am rejoicing with you and for you!

I feel strongly for you brother, I know, by continued and ongoing experience that God *IS* working and His blessing in all of it Will be realized!

BELIEVE with me - I will commit to joining with you in prayer and you *WILL* see!

Praise God!

Op this is A Good thing that You don't feel or believe you are forgiven it tells me G-d is working in you leading you to repentance