What if I keep repeating the same sin?
Repeated sin does not mean God has run out of patience: 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us.' But it should be taken seriously, not shrugged at. Scripture holds both together honestly: the righteous may fall seven times and rise again, and the Lord chastens every son He loves, because His goal is not just pardoning you but changing you.
This question arose from studying Does God use our failures for our good? and What happens when I sin after I've come to Christ?.
Begin by reading
Go into the Word
Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
The struggle itself is evidence of new life
'The good which I desire, I don't do; but the evil which I don't desire, that I practice.' Desiring what is good while failing at it is the signature of a divided heart being renewed, not a dead one. Paul resolves the misery with a Person, not a technique: 'I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!'
For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, the sin’s law.O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Confession never wears out
God's forgiveness is not a limited-use coupon: 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' Jesus told Peter to forgive seventy times seven precisely because the Father's own patience overflows. If your brother may return seven times in one day saying 'I repent,' how much more will your Father receive you?
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
But repetition deserves examination, not excuses
Grace covers repeated failure; grace never calls failure success. David's prayer shows the difference between regret and repentance: 'Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.' Ask whether you are fighting the sin or negotiating with it: hiding it, scheduling around it, and dulling conviction are warning lights that confession has become routine.
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Rising again is the mark of the righteous
'A righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.' The distinction is not between those who fall and those who don't, but between those who get up and those who give up. Paul models it: forgetting what is behind, stretching forward to what is ahead.
for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do. Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before,Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Bring in help, and expect loving discipline
You were not meant to fight alone: 'you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.' And take comfort even in the sting: 'whom the Lord loves, he chastens.' Discipline means sonship, not rejection; He knows our frame, 'He remembers that we are dust,' and He disciplines to make us share His holiness, not to pay us back.
Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourself so that you also aren’t tempted.Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.”For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust.For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
Studying the Word naturally opens more of it. Follow what you just read: it leads somewhere.
Explore further
How does God discipline His children?→God the Father trail“For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline?For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?”How do I know my repentance is genuine?→The Gospel trail“For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world works death.For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”What is church discipline?→The Church trail““If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, the sin’s law.O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourself so that you also aren’t tempted.Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Worth visiting