I’m having a lot of
anxiety lately thinking about death. I’m concerned I won’t make it into heaven
because of a few things.
1. I had premarital sex when I was a high school student with the man who is now my husband. I was 17 then. I am now 26.
2. Our oldest child was born before we got married. We had been living together, but hadn’t married yet.
3. I cheated on my husband before we were married. He knows about it all now, and we got married after it happened.
I have asked and asked
for forgiveness of all my sins but I don’t know what else I need to do. I want to make sure I am doing what I need to
do. I don’t have a church so I have no
pastor to talk to about this.
Help please!
Dear Help Please,
I have been studying on how to answer you in such a way that
will help to alleviate your anxiety and lead you to do whatever you need to do
to find forgiveness. I am going to give
you a lot of scriptural references, and I pray that you read and study all of
them with an open and receptive heart.
First of all, let me say that God is very pleased with your
tender heart and the regret that you feel for your sin (Psalm 51:17). Your situation is a common one, and even
Christians can succumb to the temptation to sin sexually. A person who commits sexual sin is
particularly prone to feelings of guilt and shame because they have sinned
against their own body (1 Corinthians 6:18).
However, guilt and shame are magnified for the Christian who sins
sexually. A Christian tells himself, “I
knew better, but I did it anyway. I
should have been stronger.” Even worse,
sometimes Christians think that God will not forgive them when they commit
sexual sin because they knew it was wrong and therefore they sinned “willfully”
(Hebrews 10:26-27). However, sinning
willfully does not mean committing sin out of weakness; it means committing sin
out of rebellion. It means turning your
back on God and not caring whether something is wrong or not. Sinning out of weakness is not the same as
willful (rebellious) sin. The Lord knows
that the spirit is willing, but the flesh indeed is weak (Matthew 26:41). However, that doesn’t excuse sin. God recognizes that we will sin, and that’s
why Jesus is our advocate (1 John 2:1-2).
When challenged to punish a woman who committed adultery, Jesus told her
to go and sin no more (John 8:3-11). That’s
what repentance is—turning from sin.
The blood of Jesus is the answer for any sin, including sexual
sins (1 Corinthians 6:9-11), but how does one become washed, sanctified, and
justified by His blood? One must be in
Christ in order for sins to be forgiven (Romans 8:1). We are told in Galatians 3:27 that we are
baptized into Christ. Acts 2:38 tells us
that we are to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, and Acts 22:16
says, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your
sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
If you have never been baptized for the remission of sins, I urge you to
find a gospel preacher who will baptize you.
(If you need help finding a preacher who will do this, please let me
know.) If a preacher or anyone else
tells you that you do not need to be baptized for the remission of sins, that
all you need to do is believe and accept Jesus into your heart as your Lord and
Savior, RUN. That is NOT what the Bible
says. Even Jesus said that one must be
baptized (Mark 16:16), and the phase “accept Jesus into your heart” is not
found anywhere in the Bible. If you have
already been baptized for the remission of sins, then you are already a
Christian, and 1 John 1:7-9 says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive our sins, and if we walk in the light as He is in the
light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. As Christians, we can have full assurance
that God forgives us completely and will not punish us for our sins. Read Psalm 103:8-14. “There is therefore now no condemnation to
those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).
God Bless,
Aunt Dara
Note to my
readers: Before you comment that the
Bible does not teach what I told this person, please put aside what you have
been taught and study what the Bible says.
