I was baptized as a teen. I really didn’t change the way I acted or lived (drinking, partying, etc.). I went to college and lived a very immoral life (drinking, fornication, etc.). In my mid 20’s I realized that I was wrong (pierced to the heart), and repented and changed my life. Because I was not sure of my salvation, as my baptism did not change my behavior or attitude, I was baptized again. My question is this: are my sins forgiven because I turned around and am living a life of repentance now? I have read some verses lately that talk about knowing the oracles of God and leaving and not being able to be restored — I think it is in Hebrews. Also the passage that talks about crucifying Christ again. That scared me. I know God can forgive me for sin, but will He forgive me for turning away for a time? I have read the verses about restoring a brother and covering a multitude of sins. How do these verses work together? I also know that Zacchaeus, when converted, went to make good on all the people he defrauded. I influenced numerous people with my sin. How can I make good with them? I don’t even know where they are and even who they are.<\/p>\n\t
I am so glad that you have returned to the Lord. The passage you are referring to is Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.<\/em>” It is a bit subtle, but what you missed is that this passage is talking to faithful Christians trying to deal with people who acted as you once acted. When a person knows the truth and then purposely chooses to leave, there is nothing left for a faithful Christian to offer to persuade that person to return to the Lord since they turned their back on the one thing that can lead them out of sin — the word of God (Romans 1:16). However, read the passage carefully and you will see that it doesn’t say that such a person, on their own, cannot return.<\/p>\n In a sense, this passage is the flip side of John 10:28, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.<\/em>” No one can make you lose your salvation, but the passage doesn’t rule out that you may choose to leave your salvation behind.<\/p>\n Both passages are acknowledgments of individual free-will. People will encourage you, Satan will tempt you, but in the end, whether you are faithful or not is your individual choice. No one can make you go to heaven or hell. You chose your destiny by whether you obey God or not. If you are obedient to God, then you need to trust the faithfulness of God. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness<\/em>” (I John 1:8). Unlike man, God always keeps His word.<\/p>\n To strengthen your faith in God, let me ask you to study the following lessons:<\/p>\n Question: I was baptized as a teen. I really didn’t change the way I acted or lived (drinking, partying, etc.). I went to college and lived a very immoral life (drinking, fornication, etc.). In my mid 20’s I realized that I was wrong (pierced to the heart), and repented and changed my life. Because I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1571,50],"class_list":["post-8993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-forgiveness","tag-repentance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28474,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-husband-and-i-lived-a-very-sinful-life-but-now-we-want-to-change-is-our-marriage-still-valid-will-god-forgive-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":8993,"position":0},"title":"My husband and I lived a very sinful life, but now we want to change. Is our marriage still valid? Will God forgive us?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I need your advice, please? My husband and I recently started reading the Bible. We were both members of our families' churches, growing up, and had a Christian wedding. We seemed to have stopped praying along the way and stop going to church ended up with the wrong group\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47373,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-we-have-sex-one-more-time-before-our-baptisms-will-god-forgive-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":8993,"position":1},"title":"If we have sex one more time before our baptisms, will God forgive us?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I recently converted to Christianity and so did my girlfriend. We both have been in a very sexual relationship before we found God. We have been trying hard not to do anything sexual, but we messed up once, felt horrible, and asked for forgiveness. We're getting baptized soon,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53350,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-repent-but-every-week-i-go-out-party-and-get-drunk\/","url_meta":{"origin":8993,"position":2},"title":"I repent, but every week I go out, party, and get drunk","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ, I have a problem. I am saved, well I think I'm saved. I repent every week after drinking and partying with friends. After a night of binge drinking, I wake up the next day feeling very anxious and thinking that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54744,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-explain-whether-people-are-saved-in-these-four-scenarios\/","url_meta":{"origin":8993,"position":3},"title":"Can you explain whether people are saved in these four scenarios?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The gospel was preached to four people who accepted the Word and wanted to be baptized. The first person confessed his drinking habit and asked to be baptized but will gradually stop the drinking later. Can he be baptized to become a Christian? Why or why not? The second\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36112,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-decided-to-be-baptized-but-im-not-getting-married-for-two-years-and-were-having-sex-can-i-ask-for-forgiveness-after-we-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":8993,"position":4},"title":"I decided to be baptized, but I’m not getting married for two years and we’re having sex. Can I ask for forgiveness after we get married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have decided I will be getting baptized this Sunday. I have been very conflicted lately because my fiance and I have decided to be intimate, but I know it is a sin before marriage. I keep having these thoughts that if I repent once we are married everything\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41923,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-left-god-and-have-not-been-a-faithful-wife-how-do-i-get-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":8993,"position":5},"title":"I left God and have not been a faithful wife. How do I get baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have known about God all my life. I used to go to church with my parents. It has been a long time since I have been to church. I forgot about Him for a while; I lost faith and stopped praying. I got married two years ago. A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8993\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n