Why do people repent and fall into sin- repeatedly?

I noticed growing up this was a common theme among lots of young people. I would constantly hear things like; “oh, I am a Christian now…. I quit partying, I follow Jesus now.” Only to either see or hear about them a few short months later, how they were seen drunk, or swearing like a sailor at the local Bowling alley.

What happens to people after they repent? Is this repentance authentic? When young people repent are they born again?…

These are all very good questions when you approach the topic of repentance…

I too haven’t lived a very solidly paved Christian lifestyle my entire life. I have walked away from God, I have fallen into sin, and I have even been upset with God.

So what happens after you repent? Well, people repent for different reasons. This may be because of guilt, shame, hating their life, or being pressured to because everyone else is, or the most authentic way- the Holy Spirit intervenes and convicted them of their sin and leads them to repent.

I remember when I was about 17 years old, a ton of my friends left for a youth conference and after coming back the following day many of them repented. They went out on stage after a good sermon was preached, and prayed with the ministers in front of the stage.

However, almost all of these repentance’s were short lived. After a few short months I seen these youngsters partying twice as aggressively as they had before. So what had happen, were their prayers not authentic? Or was their faith too weak to handle the trials of life….?

The truth is, many of these kids repented because they seen other people doing it. Some were even driven emotionally by the music that was played during the calling upstage. Many however, might of repented with the intent of actually changing…however, upon realizing what they would have to leave behind they changed their mind.

A sin is a debt, that when committed in your life is like a loan. Every loan has interest payments. The sin when committed is a loan taken directly from Satan himself. This loan is non-refundable and when you commit the sin you have officially signed the contract with Satan. He will collect interest…this is precisely why people have such a hard time leaving their lifestyles behind. The interest is the addiction, the attachment, the desire, the knowledge of the sin. This is what drives you to continue to commit this sin. The interest on sin is also the consequences, all sin have consequences. If you decided you were going to drink a litter of Vodka every day, or smoke a pack of cigarettes every day for 25 years, the consequences would be the addiction, and the toll that the substances played on your body.

Many people that repent don’t actually want to leave their lifestyles behind. They think that they can be both Christian and party, Christian and hangout with bad people. So when they repent they go back to doing whatever it is they were doing before. BIG MISTAKE

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 10:26).

This topic falls into an area of confusion, Because among the Calvinists and Arminianists their theology is quite different. The Calvinist believes that the a person only has a single repentance; which is powered by the divine Holy Spirit and isn’t humanly driven. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (Epeshians 2:8). Meaning, when the Holy Spirit drives you to repent you essentially fall under Gods Grace and your sins are forgiven. They say that this is Repentance with a big “R” which happens during the salvation moment. The daily repentance which is the little “r” will not deny you access to Gods kingdom.

Calvinists believe that lack of daily repentance will not cause you to lose your salvation.

As Paul summarizes in Rom. 10:9: “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…” Nothing more is required.

However, does this mean you can continue to go back to your old lifestyle?

I believe that the moments of repentance were not authentic (as I discussed in the intro about the youngsters repenting). And I believe a person should always be renewing his faith in his walk with Jesus. I wish it was that easy, repent, admit Jesus is Lord and go back to your old lifestyle only to die and inherit the kingdom of heaven.

I think if a person repents he chooses to accept Gods grace therefore denying himself and his old lifestyle. I believe a person that authentically repents wouldn’t want to sin, and even if he did, he would repent because the Holy Spirit would convict him of this sin.

Therefore you can even suggest that these people that continue to fall back in sin and live in this sin only to repent later are not only deliberately sinning, they haven’t received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Therefore they are not able to conquer this sin, nor are they being convicting of committing this sin.

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38). 

We see Peter telling people how to receive the Holy Spirit. Its through the repentance and the promise of committing yourself to God through the baptism.

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (Peter 3:21)

We see Peter clarifying that you have already been made clean when Jesus Died on the cross but the symbol of baptism promises God of your good faith to his grace.

If you think about it, why would the Bible emphasize so much on how important it is to not be lawless, to not sin, to repent or you will die Spiritually. Because it happens, and many people after falling into sin, instead of repenting they continue to sin. They refuse to repent and continue to sin.

Now the question here isn’t whether this person will be saved or lose their salvation, because just because you fall into sin doesn’t mean you will automatically perish in the afterlife. What consequences will you reap if you continue to live in sin?

You may die Spiritually, this may be a temporary state or a permanent state, depending on the sin that has been committed. We see blasphemy on the Holy Spirit is not going to be forgiven.

Can you die Spiritually for good, like never see Gods grace again. This is a tough question, in my humble opinion (and yes this may be slightly Calvinistic). I think when you repent and turn away from sin with a humble heart and the Holy Spirit truly enters your heart you will never die Spiritually. However, many  people repent and think they are going to receive the Holy Spirit but do not. This may be because they are repenting for the wrong reasons, they are not planning to leave their old lifestyle.

This is why Jesus emphasized on the importance of being born again. When a baby is born it is without sin (other than the sin that comes with humanity through Adam and Eve). It has a clean heart and its intentions are pure, that’s why many believe that babies and young kids will go to heaven because they do not know between right and wrong. When we get older our wicked nature kicks in and we start to have the option of free-will and evil intentions. These intentions are driven by our natural man (our flesh) and by Satan’s deceptive lies.

So if you have been repenting your entire life and still cannot escape the most basic sin that has been following you around your entire life, the question should be? Are you truly born again? Have you made a strong decision to leave your old sinful lifestyle behind you? or do you still love the sin that you have in your life ( those premarital flings, that bottle of liquor, that computer screen that tempts you when no one is looking, that rush you get when you bet money at the local casino….) We must walk away from all sin, no matter how small they may seem, or how impossible they may seem to conquer.

Have you heard the voice of the Holy Spirit in your life?..Many believe that the Holy Spirit is given upon the immediate repentance of all sin. I think this isn’t true, we see Jesus being baptized while the Holy Spirit descended down from heaven. I think for the Holy Spirit to truly enter your life you must fully commit yourself to Christ and be willing to leave all sin behind with all your heart. Now this may or may not be during your repentance, or it may happen during your baptism, but if you aren’t fully committed to God, he will not pour his grace upon you.

But regardless, the only way to truly be able to enter heaven is through the power of the Holy Spirit, which is received as a gift from God after you “truly” repent and “fully” turn away from your old lifestyle with a humble heart, “with no intentions to return.”

-AMEN-