Forgiveness: Once and never again?

My thoughts on forgiveness and repentance, before I go to sleep to prepare ahead of Portugal-Greece.

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what happens to a Christian who lives a life of sin, only to repent at the last moment?

I believe that receiving your salvation in your first or last hour or life makes no difference at all. Here is the parable which gives me this belief: Matthew 20:16, the parable of the workers in the vineyard. No matter what time the workers entered to work in the "vineyard" representing heaven, they were paid the same wages- meaning, they got the same reward, that they got into heaven.

But this isn't the same as a Christian, who is fully aware of the need to follow God's commandments, yet consciously lives a life of sin and tries to repent for everything at the last moment. After all, it might be seen as "cheating" your way into salvation- keeping on sinning until the last moment.

Yet I think these people, too, will enter the kingdom of heaven. remember the prodigal son? The father welcomed him with open arms, despite him spending a good part of his life in sin.

I believe God never closes the door on anyone. He forgives and forgives, and I'm glad He does!

However, we must remember three things, and never take God's everlasting love for granted:

1. God only forgives if your repentance is genuine, sincere, and truthful. Like Pinocchio in Shrek 2, you can't hide your lies. Repentance is not saying sorry, or just promising not to sin again, it is a wholehearted resolve to change and to allow God to take over that area of weakness in your life.

2. As Ryan said, it is much harder to return to God the longer you've been away from Him. This is very true, I can testify to this! If you are sinning and don't stop it immediately you can turn away from God further and further. No matter how many times you hear of dramatic turnarounds in life and of a ex-killer/thief/drug addict who is now a pastor/missionary/evangelist, the fact remains that these are dramatic expressions of God's divine grace, and for one of these "success stories", there are a lot more who continue on the same path into oblivion. Repent now, rather than later. Sin can get you carried away.

3. The Lord is a just God, and although He has provided everyone with a way to heaven that anyone can cling onto at anytime, He also won't let works for Him on earth that are not recognised go unrewarded in heaven. We can store up riches in heaven because the Lord has shown us the way and given us the opportunity to do so. I don't know exactly what rewards we'll get, but I think they gotta be good! And the opposite is true, we have to answer to God for how we wasted or sinned in our lives on Judgment Day... so...

You know who to live for everyday!

-ivan-