Can we really return after backsliding?
Question:
Hello,
I was reading your articles. Thank you. I will get straight to my questions:
- If we live life wrong after knowing the truth, can we sincerely stop and replant our seed in good ground and not be choked by the weeds again?
- What if we are worried that we are a tare and not wheat?
- I backslid, came back, but I feel bad or far from God as a result, is this normal? Is it like rebuilding? I have been through everything from being worried about the verse in Hebrews to thinking God actually left me.
- After backsliding can we go through a time of intense testing, or is it a result of our actions, or is the enemy still trying to destroy us?
I backslid but repented after realizing I fell into an old pattern. And other things, but that is about it. Please let me know any input you may have. Thank you so much.
Answer:
"But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord GOD, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
"But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die" (Ezekiel 18:21-24).
People can and do change. Just as a wicked person can become righteous by turning to God, a righteous person can become wicked by turning away from God. The goal of being a Christian is to rid ourselves of sin. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:1-2). The reality of life, however, is that sin is a problem we will continually deal with. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ... If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us" (I John 1:8, 10).
Whether you allow the cares of the world to choke you again is a choice that you make. If you allow sin to remain in your life, then you will be among the tares cast out. Worrying about whether you will be cast out or not is not productive. You should be working hard not to be among those cast out.
One should feel bad for sinning, but you should also look at yourself and be thankful that you are not that way any longer. "For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter" (II Corinthians 7:10-11).
Keep in mind that when a person is in sin, he doesn't pay that much attention to what he is doing because he doesn't care. When a person comes out of sin, he suddenly notices all the wrong things he has been doing, even though they are decreasing. It just feels harder for a while, even though you are improving.
