Tag Archives: Error

Does repeated sin show a lack of repentance?

We as humans have to make choices in what we do and which direction we want to go.

Before we got to know God and before we were baptized into Christ, we may not always have known the difference between good and evil and perhaps there were several things we did wrong. But once we are baptized, we must be aware that we must live according to the Will of God and that not everything is justified so much.

No one is without error. So each of us does something wrong. But if we have done something wrong, we must also dare to admit it. But we also have to regret it.

In principle, repentance implies an utter rejection of former sin. When we realise that we have done something wrong, we must also try not to do it again. We have to work on ourselves so that we don’t (still) make the same mistakes. In addition to trying to stop making such mistakes, we must also dare to ask forgiveness from the party (s) involved. For example, a thief who repents will not only ask forgiveness for his former thefts but will also change his ways so that he does not steal any longer.

Jesus said to the woman taken in adultery

“go and sin no more” (John 8:11).

So, in principle, if you truly repent of a particular sin then you would have and show the intention to never sin again.

However, none of us is perfect and so while we might intend to never sin again, we might be tempted into sin once more. Paul describes his own struggle:

“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate … it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” (Romans 7:15-19).

Here Paul describes how he intends to do good, but there is something else inside him that tempts him to do evil. He says that sometimes he does things that he doesn’t want to do (i.e. he sins). This is the same for all of us.

When we repent we intend to never sin again, but we will still be tempted and sometimes sin. This failure does not necessarily demonstrate a lack of repentance, but a failure of our will to do good.