How do you know if God has forgiven you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic raised turned Agnostic here:

the idea of God's forgiveness is that if you are truly sorry for your sins and ask God's forgiveness, he will grant it. Yes it is quite convenient but it only works if you are truly sorry. That is the big question. Is Sam sorry that he did it or sorry that he was caught. Only Sam (and God) know.

I guess that means you can get off the hook for virtually anything.

Yes and no. I don't believe God ever views any of us as truly irredeemable, no matter what kinds of terrible things you've done, if you come to truly regret them and repent, God will forgive you. The trick is that you have to genuinely repent, though. You can go through the motions of praying on it and asking God for forgiveness, but if, in your heart, you don't truly regret what you did (and not just regret that there were consequences, but regret the actions regardless of what flowed from them), God will know that and you won't be forgiven.

This is right, and people forget that there is a second requirement. Jesus said "go and SIN NO MORE." That means, obviously, that in addition to being sorry, the action must stop immediately. And forgiveness does not absolve one of dealing with the consequences of the action.

that's a suggestion, not an order. Jesus knows that the flesh is weak. If people were only forgiven for sin once, heaven would be empty - and for Catholics -- so would the confessionals.

I read it more about intent. Striving to sin no more, or at least striving to stop the particular sins with which you are struggiling. But of course no of us is, or ever could be sinless.

It's about repentance. Of course none of us will ever be sinless. However, if we're repentant we're actively leading a lifestyle that will strive to turn away from sin. That's what "sin no more" means.

I don't know -- "Sin no more" Seems pretty straightforward and not something that begs a lot of interpretation. Perhaps it's a bad translation. This kind of thing is what makes understanding the Bible so frustrating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that God forgives before we forgive ourselves a lot of the time. If we are sincere in our regret, sincere in asking for forgiveness and sincere in truly wanting to do better, God will forgive us. But God is no fool. If you are just flapping your lips saying that you're sorry and really only regretting that you weree caught....nah. That might fool some people, that will never fool God.

What if you have doubts, but say you believe in God just in case there is a god and he really meant it when he said you had to believe in him to get into heaven? Can God tell if you're completely sincere or just hedging your bets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that God forgives before we forgive ourselves a lot of the time. If we are sincere in our regret, sincere in asking for forgiveness and sincere in truly wanting to do better, God will forgive us. But God is no fool. If you are just flapping your lips saying that you're sorry and really only regretting that you weree caught....nah. That might fool some people, that will never fool God.

What if you have doubts, but say you believe in God just in case there is a god and he really meant it when he said you had to believe in him to get into heaven? Can God tell if you're completely sincere or just hedging your bets?

Pretty sure that if there is a God, Pascal's Wager flunks the faith test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that God forgives before we forgive ourselves a lot of the time. If we are sincere in our regret, sincere in asking for forgiveness and sincere in truly wanting to do better, God will forgive us. But God is no fool. If you are just flapping your lips saying that you're sorry and really only regretting that you weree caught....nah. That might fool some people, that will never fool God.

What if you have doubts, but say you believe in God just in case there is a god and he really meant it when he said you had to believe in him to get into heaven? Can God tell if you're completely sincere or just hedging your bets?

I'm pretty sure God knows if you're sincere. He does know all things, after all. Believing that there is a God is not the same as believing in God and placing your trust in Christ's finished work on the cross for your salvation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic raised turned Agnostic here:

the idea of God's forgiveness is that if you are truly sorry for your sins and ask God's forgiveness, he will grant it. Yes it is quite convenient but it only works if you are truly sorry. That is the big question. Is Sam sorry that he did it or sorry that he was caught. Only Sam (and God) know.

I guess that means you can get off the hook for virtually anything.

Not exactly. Just because you are forgiven does not mean you are not accountable.

Simple example: My son breaks my favorite vase. I forgive him, I'm not angry, but he still has to find a way to pay for the vase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic raised turned Agnostic here:

the idea of God's forgiveness is that if you are truly sorry for your sins and ask God's forgiveness, he will grant it. Yes it is quite convenient but it only works if you are truly sorry. That is the big question. Is Sam sorry that he did it or sorry that he was caught. Only Sam (and God) know.

I guess that means you can get off the hook for virtually anything.

Not exactly. Just because you are forgiven does not mean you are not accountable.

Simple example: My son breaks my favorite vase. I forgive him, I'm not angry, but he still has to find a way to pay for the vase.

So how is Sam going to pay for his Ashley Madison sin?

[Anonymous]

Uhhh...I find the Hindu/Buddhist concept of Karma most just.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that God forgives before we forgive ourselves a lot of the time. If we are sincere in our regret, sincere in asking for forgiveness and sincere in truly wanting to do better, God will forgive us. But God is no fool. If you are just flapping your lips saying that you're sorry and really only regretting that you weree caught....nah. That might fool some people, that will never fool God.

What if you have doubts, but say you believe in God just in case there is a god and he really meant it when he said you had to believe in him to get into heaven? Can God tell if you're completely sincere or just hedging your bets?

I'm pretty sure God knows if you're sincere. He does know all things, after all. Believing that there is a God is not the same as believing in God and placing your trust in Christ's finished work on the cross for your salvation.

Then why do some Christians warn people who don't believe in Go or who have doubts, to just go ahead and say they believe in god -- because saying it is necessary (according to Christianity) to get into heaven?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that God forgives before we forgive ourselves a lot of the time. If we are sincere in our regret, sincere in asking for forgiveness and sincere in truly wanting to do better, God will forgive us. But God is no fool. If you are just flapping your lips saying that you're sorry and really only regretting that you weree caught....nah. That might fool some people, that will never fool God.

What if you have doubts, but say you believe in God just in case there is a god and he really meant it when he said you had to believe in him to get into heaven? Can God tell if you're completely sincere or just hedging your bets?

I'm pretty sure God knows if you're sincere. He does know all things, after all. Believing that there is a God is not the same as believing in God and placing your trust in Christ's finished work on the cross for your salvation.

Then why do some Christians warn people who don't believe in Go or who have doubts, to just go ahead and say they believe in god -- because saying it is necessary (according to Christianity) to get into heaven?

They don't actually understand the Gospel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that God forgives before we forgive ourselves a lot of the time. If we are sincere in our regret, sincere in asking for forgiveness and sincere in truly wanting to do better, God will forgive us. But God is no fool. If you are just flapping your lips saying that you're sorry and really only regretting that you weree caught....nah. That might fool some people, that will never fool God.

What if you have doubts, but say you believe in God just in case there is a god and he really meant it when he said you had to believe in him to get into heaven? Can God tell if you're completely sincere or just hedging your bets?

I'm pretty sure God knows if you're sincere. He does know all things, after all. Believing that there is a God is not the same as believing in God and placing your trust in Christ's finished work on the cross for your salvation.

Then why do some Christians warn people who don't believe in Go or who have doubts, to just go ahead and say they believe in god -- because saying it is necessary (according to Christianity) to get into heaven?

Who is saying that? I have never heard a Christian recommend that people say it as to fool God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that God forgives before we forgive ourselves a lot of the time. If we are sincere in our regret, sincere in asking for forgiveness and sincere in truly wanting to do better, God will forgive us. But God is no fool. If you are just flapping your lips saying that you're sorry and really only regretting that you weree caught....nah. That might fool some people, that will never fool God.

What if you have doubts, but say you believe in God just in case there is a god and he really meant it when he said you had to believe in him to get into heaven? Can God tell if you're completely sincere or just hedging your bets?

I'm pretty sure God knows if you're sincere. He does know all things, after all. Believing that there is a God is not the same as believing in God and placing your trust in Christ's finished work on the cross for your salvation.

Then why do some Christians warn people who don't believe in Go or who have doubts, to just go ahead and say they believe in god -- because saying it is necessary (according to Christianity) to get into heaven?

Who is saying that? I have never heard a Christian recommend that people say it as to fool God.

I've heard it here on DCUM and IRL too

[Anonymous]

You can't deny the holy spirit either. That's a surefire way to go to hell. And there''s no taking it back.

Why take a chance like that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic raised turned Agnostic here:

the idea of God's forgiveness is that if you are truly sorry for your sins and ask God's forgiveness, he will grant it. Yes it is quite convenient but it only works if you are truly sorry. That is the big question. Is Sam sorry that he did it or sorry that he was caught. Only Sam (and God) know.

I guess that means you can get off the hook for virtually anything.

Yes, as long as you're really, really sorry and God can tell. - and if you believe in God, of course. In fact, people who do bad things are better off believing in god, because then they can be forgiven by God and God's forgiveness is considered the best forgiveness you can get -- it allows you an eternity in heaven.

Being forgiven by people here on earth is only good for as long as they live - if that. Humans sometimes get tired of forgiving people for the same sin over and over again (especially infidelity), but God never does. God will forgive you every time -- as long as you're sincere.

Judaism takes a somewhat different view. Repentance is certainly important, but no matter how sorry you may truly be, that is not necessarily sufficient. Mercy definitely plays an important role in the Jewish conception of G-d, but a justice component remains no matter how sincere the repentance.

[Anonymous]

Easy- go catholic confession, mean it and do the penance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Easy- go catholic confession, mean it and do the penance.

And repeat regularly and hope you're in a state of grace when you die.