[[I accepted Christ as my Savior years ago, but I have not been without sin since that time.]]
If you accepted Christ- you have been FORGIVEN past present and future- You are not ‘without sin’ but you ARE forgiven for those sins-
We SHOULD try to live a ‘good life’ - however, even if we don’t, we will still be with Christ in heaven IF we’ve accepted Him as Savior- We will just forfeit many crowns and our position in heaven will not be what it could have been had we lived more for Christ and less for ourselves-
[[If I commit suicide, how can I ask God’s forgiveness before I have to face him?]]
You don’t have to- You ARE saved/forgiven already- Christ doesn’t keep saving us over and over and over again- His death was sufficient to pay the penalty of sin forever
If you have a minute, I’ll explain a little of old testament law-
in the old testament, men had to ‘keep the law’ as it were- they had to obey God’s laws- commands- if they didn’t they had to keep giving sacrifices to atone for their sins (They were still saved, and this is where it gets a bit complicated- but God commanded they be holy by keeping the law- (old testament people were eternally saved by believing on the coming Lord Jesus, even though they knew not who it would be- the prophets foretold of the Savior- and the OT people put their faith in His coming resurrection- they were born again- just like we are today-
It became apparent that man could NOT keep the laws totally- and ifnact fell very hard many times-
I believe the law was around to show man that he could NOT keep the law, and to show man he NEEDS a Savior to fulfill the law because we are such miserable failures
The law, and the sacrifices were a deal where blood from a perfect lamb or animal would ‘cover the sins’ of man- BUT would NOT be permanent (God required more obedience in Old Testament in order tro try to keep His people as pure and free from sin as possible, and so this system of sacrifices was tedious, and took a lot of work, but it was good In the sense that it reminded man what a miserable failure he was so that he could ‘try harder’ I n the future-
The SAvior’s death however, His shed blood could do what no animal’s blood could because He truly IS the spotless lamb- sinless, unblemished- His blood permanently covers sins- forever
No more need for us to ‘keep the law’ or to ‘atone for sins’ like they did in old testament-
We SHOULD however, regularly confess our sins, and strive to allow the Holy Spirit to keep and guide us, but In reality, many of us fall all the time
To wrap up- there are many many verses I n the bible that talk of eternal salvation- once saved always saved-
You should do a study on it sometime- You’ll be surprised at how many there are and at how much security it brings knowing we can’t/don’t have to carry the burden any longer-
Christ died to lift the heavy burden of the law from us- We no longer have to carry that millstone around our necks-
Thanks, that helps.
I guess where I get, or got confused is the fact I have never felt that the asking God for forgiveness was a burden, or a chore.
I speak to God frequently. I try very hard to be aware of things that I believe dishonor the agreement I made with Him when I accepted His son as my Savior.
Thing is, even though I know God is an omnipotent supreme being, when I speak to him through prayer, my idea of Prayer is like I’m speaking to a really close friend.
I talk to God in the same way I’m speaking to you. I don’t ask God to solve problems for me, I only ask for the clarification of a problem so I can solve it in a way that He wants me to.
I do the same when asking Him for forgiveness. I know things are sins because I fell crappy about them, and I know that’s him in my heart telling me I’ve done something boneheaded.
I guess that’s where I got the notion that Suicide couldn’t be forgiven. If I killed another person (Not self defense, or family protection, or accident, etc, and I’m sure I’d feel bad about these as well) let’s say I caught my wife sleeping with someone else, and snapped, I can’t imagine how my heart would ache for having taken that life, I feel guilty, and horrible if I hit a squirrel. So I guess I always believed if I approached God with that stain on my soul, having not asked His forgiveness, that would be the one instance when He couldn’t forgive me. Maybe (and this may seem like a naive thought) because life is the most precious gift we’re given, and to throw that gift back at God, and say I didn’t care enough about it to preserve it would be the ultimate betrayal.
I don’t know if any of this makes sense. It’s getting late, and my thoughts start to run together, but I would like to hear your thoughts on this as well.
Thanks again.