Does God punish you for past acts, even if you asked for forgivness?
103897
Once you repent and ask God to forgive you of something, you are forgiven. Not only does he forgive you, he also remembers it no more. So you need not worry about that. However when you sin there are still consequences. For example if you drink and use drugs for a long time, you may damage your body, or if you mess up financially, you may find yourself stuck in debt. Or if you offend someone, there's still a damaged relationship to be dealt with. You will still have to deal with the consequences even though you are forgiven. But take heart, God doesn't leave you to deal with them on your own. He stays with you and heals you, weather it takes a long time or a little, he does take care of us.\n\nAs for the desires of your heart, God knows better than you do what you want, what you need, and what will benefit you. Of course he wants you to pray and make your requests known, but that doesn't mena he'll always give you what you want when you want it. Again, He knows best. He may not give you what you want because he knows it's not the best thing for you. Or perhaps the timing is not right, and he will give you what you want at the best time (later). It may also be that he wants to teach you to wait on him and trust him.\n\nIn any case, just trust him. He is your father and he loves you more than you will ever imagine. He also sees all things. He knows everything that will happen to you in your life and he truly knows what's best. Also rest assurred he has forgiven you of everything you've repented for. You need only repent once for a sin and it is completely forgotten by Him. So forgive yourself. God has forgiven you, and those past sins will never count against you.
444739
Yes, if you truly repent and accept Jesus as your savior. You should also be willing to face the consequences.
933294
Do you mean that God forgives?  Yes.  He has forgiven me many times.
812847
If a person is married and in love with their spouse, do they not ask their spouse to "forgive" them when they wrong them? It's about relationship, for a relatioship to be a healthy one, there must be communication, empathy, and forgiveness when you have wronged them. This is ESPECIALLY true with God. I mean, HE'S GOD! Would you not be sorry for hurting Him after all He has done for you. I mean we live and breathe because He chooses to sustain our health another day, we are able to work, choose, and make our own decisions (right or wrong) because he chooses to have grace and allow us to. Why would someone not ask for forgiveness for sinning against such a gracious Father? As a father myself, it means much more to me when my daughter comes to me and asks for forgiveness for doing something wrong instead of not asking at all like she doesn't care about me. And if your kids refuse to ask forgiveness for disobeying you, you will eventually punish them. God does us the same way, we suffer the consequences for disobeying Him here on earth if we refuse to turn from our ways, we still go to Heaven because He is our Father and nothing can change that, but nevertheless, He has to punish us and does so before we die. \n\nAs far as the old testament goes, the high priest atoned for the sins of the people once a year with a sacrificial lamb because that was the covenant God made with them. The problem was that this only "put off" the sins and didn't cover them for good. It took a perfect, sinless, person to actually live that life for us, then to be sacrificed in our place to completely cover those sins once for all, and that is exactly what Jesus done. I hope this answers your question, Peace.
630473
Everyone is a sinner but if they ask for forgiveness from God they are set free. Not all sins are the same, some like shoplifting do minor damage to people while murder ruins entire families. Also the consequences are much greater, but God will forgive any sin if we just confess them and ask for forgiveness. When you have a personal relationship with Jesus you don't want to sin, you still do but you learn from them, and try not to do them again.
805796
Yes God already knew who was bad and is giving him a chance to repent or mend his ways. He is also so loving that he will completely forgive you if you are sorry for your sins. and foremost he create us through his image.So we must all act Godlike. Good , righteous and loving, Does that answer your question.
1038726
Jesus also said that we are to forgive... seven times seventy-seven.  You're not your dad and I'm sorry that he's done these things, not just to you but to other people.  It sounds like he needs some major help and maybe he'll get it in prison, but it's God's job to judge and condemn (but it's easy for us to do).  I hope you learn from your dad and are a better person because of it.
1097954
What a wonderful question.....NO!!!....Sin is something that although is inherited from our forefather, is totally against all the God stands for.  To me, people who think that repentance gives them the right to continue living the way they want as opposed to the way the Bible says we should are living in deep denial..........What's the sense in asking for forgiveness if you're just going to turn around and repeat the offense again....Also, how sincere is an apology when you continue to repeat the same behaviors that you apologized for in the first place?
933659
No human can forgive sins. \n\nGod allows humans to forgive each other on acts that harm the rest of the living...however...some crimes, I reckon would not be forgiven by God, even if I have forgiven someone for doing them.\n\nWhy? Because I dont know what lies in peoples hearts. Only He does. So HE in His infinite wisdom, might chose to forgive or not to forgive depending on the persons sincerity.\n\nThis is why, when faced with a man who hurts you in some way, you must pray, may God forgive him, if you want his own good.
965429
There has to be a consequence.  The Lord has set commandments and guidelines we are to follow in order to achieve the eternal life he has promised.  Along those same lines, he cannot go back on his promise of the consequences for inaction or defiance of his laws.   That's why we have this life.  It is the time to prepare to meet God.  Do all that he has asked to the best of our ability.  If we slip or make a mistake, we have repentance,  In the end, when we are judged, Christ's sacrifice and atonement will make up the difference for those things we may have lacked in.  He's set this plan in front of you.  It's your choice to follow it or deny it.  It's your choice, but there are consequences for those choices.
624426
I remember asking myself this alot when I was a young girl. I asked this very question once. Someone closer to God answered this for me.\n\nIf you ask your Heavenly Father to forgive you of a sin with all your heart and mean it, he will. \n\nIf you turn around and continue to repeat that very sin, then ask for forgiveness, God looks at this as * What sin is this do you ask me to forgive you for twice?* \n\nIt was forgotten and erased away the first time you asked him. \n\nNow I do believe because we are human, we will continue to make mistakes. Some of those mistakes will probably be what we have already asked for forgiveness for. However, God does understand we are only human. This doesnt pardon you to continue to do the same thing over and over. God knows your heart. Its that simple. When and if you continue to do the same mistake over and over, God knows your heart. He will know and understand your life at that time, what you are faced with and the fact you are trying to make it better.\n\nI dont have the magic answer here. But I do believe that God knows your heart. If you are changing your life, making an effor to be righteous and do the right thing, God knows this about you. We will all falter at one time or another. Just be diligent and keep on.
710175
All you you have to do is ask for forgiveness and He will throw the sin into the sea of forgetfulness. God does not hold grudges. Once you accepted Jesus it was forgiven.
957918
Hi, I don't believe God is a punishing God.  He is a loving God and loves us unconditionally.  I think we do the punishing by feeling guilty for criticizing others and not feeling good about ourselves.  When we are happy, content and feel good about ourselves we don't judge or criticize others.
1150985
You are correct. God is not capable of simply forgiving someone, as you and I are; he must kill someone in order to do it. In the Old Testament, he required that animals die every single day so that he could forgive the Israelites. This worked just fine for thousands of years, and then one day God just wasn't satisfied. I guess the novelty of animal sacrifices wore off and he needed a human sacrifice. But not just ANY old human sacrifice, this one had to be special, so he sent his Holy Spirit to Earth to impregnate a teenage girl (does that count as sex with a minor?), then he arranged for the resulting offspring--his own son--to die.  Only then was God able to forgive everyone.\n\nOr was he? People are supposedly forgiven for every bad thing they ever did or will do, yet they are required to beg forgiveness, anyway, every time they do something bad. And if they do a lot of bad things, they get sent to eternal punishment...even though God forgave them.
936754
Hi Justin, This simply means, that if we continue to do a sin God has convicted us about and we repent for, then we continue sinning, believing God's grace will cover us (Romans 6-8) God cannot accept that, habitual sin, it also allows the devil a foothold in our life, we are just mocking God if we continue to live sinning on purpose after accepting Jesus, and the truth God has revealed to us. 2 Peter 1:1-13 (this shows how to stop being sinful.)
568753
In order to get forgiveness as a christian you have to believe what you did was wrong.  You can just go willy nilly and ask to be forgiven if you're just going to do it all again in five minutes.
399859
Sure.\n\nYou talk about thing things you have.  Did you do something wrong in order to obtain those things?  If so, you may need to make restitution with the person you slighted in order to make peace with that.\n\nWhatever you have done, if you have asked God to forgive you, you have to forgive you, too.  Failing to forgive yourself will definitely hold you back.\n\nOnce God has forgiven you, you don't have the right to wallow in guilt and shame.  He has freed you to go on to better things, and failing to do so is failing to accept His gracious gift.\n\nI know it can be hard to forgive yourself.  I have always struggled with that.  Part of it for me is recognizing that it hurts God when I don't accept His forgiveness and let go of my guilt and move on.\n\nI had the same problem with confidence.  I was afraid of being selfish, and I was very insecure.  I held on to my insecurity because I didn't want to be arrogant and selfish.  Then I realized how selfish it was that when someone asked me for my opinion, I would answer, but in a voice so small that they struggled to hear me.  I was showing my insecurity, which I thought was humble.  But they were having to work to hear me, which is pretty arrogant.  What is so great about what I have to say, that I'm going to make people work to hear it?  Now, I don't have to go to the other extreme and yell, but it is kind to be considerate of the one asking and speak my answer loudly enough that they can hear it.\n\nI used to think my guilt would keep me from making the same mistakes again.  I grew up never being forgiven, so I learned never to forgive myself.  It didn't work, so I shamed myself on top of that.  Still to no avail.\n\nGuilt is supposed to serve a purpose.  It's supposed to lead us to repentance and forgiveness.  Anything other than that is an abuse of guilt.  Some people will say, "ignore the guilt." but that's not really helpful.  Guilt can bring you out of self-destructive patterns if you use it correctly.\n\nWhen you feel it and repent and ask for forgiveness, you have to take the next step, which is trust.  You have to trust God enough to believe that He has forgiven you and that you can forgive yourself.  And you have to trust that He will help you do His will.  And trust yourself enough to take that next step onward.\n\nGuilt keeps you tied to that cement block you tossed in the river.  Cut the cord, or you'll drown in self-contempt.