Question:
If a person sins and God forgives him, and then he does the same thing over and over, knowing it is wrong, is there any forgiveness for him?
Answer:
Firstly, there is forgiveness for a person just as long as there is sincere repentance. The danger is not that we shall sin and God will not forgive us, but that we shall place ourselves by sinning where there is no more conscience for sin. God’s mercy is unlimited in its exercise in the number of times and quantity. Matthew 18:21–35; Luke 17:3, 4; Isaiah 1:18; Micah 7:18, 19 are all passages that point out God’s wondrous mercy, unlimited in quantity and extent to all who trust Him. But constant sinning against light hardens the heart and benumbs the conscience. There may be sorrow exercised to the very end because of the consequences of sin. Still, to him who continues to sin, the conscience becomes benumbed so that while it mourns over the results of sinning, it still loves the sin and is not offended at its presence. Like Esau, the sinner finds no place of true repentance, though he seeks it carefully with tears (Hebrews 12:17).
Secondly, the fact that one is continually sinning ought to lead to thorough self-examination and humility. But to him who is truly repentant, who seeks forgiveness of God, there is hope. “Him that cometh to Me,” says the Saviour of men, “I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his evil way and live (Ezekiel 33:11). He will abundantly pardon all those who forsake their way and return to the Lord. “Whosoever will” may come.
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).
