Thank you so much, my dear friend, for your desire to repent and seek forgiveness from God. I believe that you have hit upon the answer to your question already…you need to confess your sins and seek God’s forgiveness and His help in getting back on track with the Lord. I believe from the wording of your question that you may already have trusted in Christ Jesus for your salvation; and if this be your case, I believe that which you are now experiencing is the Lord calling you back to Himself. So, how does a Christian who has sinned get back on track with God?  While it is quite true that the old man, our fleshly nature, is yet within us, and this seems to be pulling us the opposite direction from where we would desire to go (Romans 7:19), praise God that we have help…Christ Jesus (Romans 7:24-25)!  So, if you are born again but have sinned, how do you restore your happy fellowship with your Father in Heaven? The answer is prayer, repentance, and confession. Repentance means “to change your mind” or “to turn around” in your thinking and agree with God that you are a sinner and that you do need His forgiveness. Indeed, Christians are not to sin (1 John 2:1 says “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And “if” anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,” (my emphasis on the IF). Thus, by the new nature, Christians are not expected to sin, because we are a new creature, and the Holy Spirit dwells within us (2 Corinthians 5:17). My best advice to you if you are already saved, is that you pray and confess your sins, and ask the Lord to help you to get your life back on track, and I am confident that God will give you the strength and the guidance to walk according to His will. In Hebrews 4:15-16 we read: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” My dear friend, the Lord wants you to be restored in your happy fellowship with Himself, and He will help you for sure if you seek Him. In 1 John 1:9 we read a most comforting truth which is applicable to born again Christians who have sinned: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I’m sure you’ll agree that it is not a very pleasant feeling to know that you have sinned, and to be conscious of God’s displeasure about that. In Psalms 32:1-5 (NKJV) we read: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.  I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

David, after his sin with Bathsheba, suffered greatly in his spirit and was quite miserable until he confessed and sought the forgiveness of the Lord. When he did seek forgiveness, he found to his joy that God was gracious and merciful to him. When I was a boy, my father had certain expectations for my behavior; when I failed and did something that he did not like, I did not feel very good about even being around him. It was miserable for me during those times. I had no peace with my dad until I confessed and sought his forgiveness. And, if I was sincere, his forgiveness was always forthcoming, and I felt so much better being back in his good graces…our fellowship was restored. And so it is with God our Father if we are His children, and those who are born-again are His children for sure (John 1:12). God loves you, and so He will not allow you to continue to go on sinning without giving you this unrest and this consciousness of sin which is intended to draw you back.

But now, for any who might be reading this response who has not as yet believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I want to give you a clear statement about your need to be saved, and how, in fact, you can be saved this very moment! No one can be saved simply by their best efforts to be righteous, for none are righteous (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 64:6). And, a day of judgment is coming upon this earth for all sinners who will not repent and seek God’s mercy while yet alive in this world (Romans 1:18; Acts 17:30-31; Revelation 20:1-15). We all have sinned, and we all need a Savior to save us from the righteous punishment of God for our sins. Christ Jesus came into this world to save us from our sins (1 Timothy 1:15), and He alone can save us (Acts 4:12). To be saved, we must put our full trust and faith in the finished work of Christ Jesus on our behalf on Calvary’s cross, our debt being paid in full by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus said in John 5:24: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” May the Lord bless His Word to your hearts.  (SF)  (653.1)