Is there a limit to how many times God will forgive the same sin?

An old friend recently wrote me about her struggle to keep appropriate physical boundaries with her fiancé. They resolve to do better, and then inevitably break the resolution. This keeps happening. And she wondered: is there a point where you have sinned too much (or repeated a sin too often) to be forgiven? Can God’s grace run out or be used up? It’s a great question, and pretty fundamental to how we view salvation.

Short answer: no. God’s grace will always be more abundant than our sin. But let me take this post to explain why I believe that.

First, let’s talk about what happens when we believe in Jesus. A huge change happens, according to Scripture.

Our debt is declared “paid in full.”

Romans 5:18 describes this incredible act of mercy:“So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men [the act of Adam’s disobedience in the garden], even so through one act of righteousness [Christ’s obedience to death on the cross] there resulted justification of life to all men.” Justification (Greek: diakaiosis) is actually a legal term, used in a courtroom to describe a judge declaring a person to be free of guilt. It’s a position: a declaration of their standing within the legal system.

Note that Paul places justification in contrast to condemnation. Rather than face the death penalty, the prisoner is declared free of guilt and is set free. Death gives way to life.

Our standing with God is forever altered. Our debt has been declared paid in full. And the pardon is for all time. Charges will never be brought up for it again. We are forever acceptable to God, but not because we are good people. It is through the work of the cross alone. Jesus took the wrath for our sin. He bore our death sentence. So we are declared free. And the righteousness we wear is His though faith in Him (Philippians 3:9).

Just as we had nothing to do with this amazing change in status, there is nothing we can do to revert our legal standing back again. Jesus paid our debt in full. Positionally, we are right with God. End of story.

Also…

We are given a new life.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” That new life began when the Holy Spirit indwelled us. “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11). Jesus called this rebirth being born “of water and the Spirit.” That indwelling is permanent. Paul says in Ephesians that He remains in us as a guarantee of salvation.

Can we sin Him away? Can we go back to having a sinful nature? No. We are a new creation. The old is GONE. The new is permanent.

New life, new position. All done through the work of Jesus Christ. It is purely a work of God, not of our own efforts. All done FOR us. When God transforms, He work is permanent. We cannot undo His new creation.

And finally…

God’s forgiveness is complete.

Remember when Peter asked Jesus how many times he needed to forgive someone who commits the same sin over and over? (The Pharisees taught they only needed to forgive the same offense three times.) So Peter generously guessed: seven?

But Jesus told him: “I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” He goes on to tell a parable about a king who forgives a huge debt. More than the servant could ever deserve or repay. (Matthew 18:21-35)

Jesus’ point: if God wants us to forgive seventy times seven, He is merely asking us to reflect the kind of forgiveness He has given us. In Scripture, seven is the number used to express completeness. God’s forgiveness is complete. Past, present, and future. ALL our sin.

So, can we out-sin His saving power and grace? No. Grace, by definition, is undeserved favor. It has nothing to do with what we have done or could ever do. So how can we un-deserve it?

“…where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20-21).

Of course, this begs a follow-up question: Does the fact I can’t stop sinning indicate I am no longer saved (or even was saved to begin with)? Stay tuned.