Is God's Forgiveness Unconditional?

I'm curious. Have you actually ever read the Bible, or do you always have to make the simple truth into one of your bloviated arguments.


Acts 3:19 - Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,



Matthew 4:17 - From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”



2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.



Acts 2:38 - 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.



2 Chronicles 7:14 - If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.


Matthew 3:8 - Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.



Acts 17:30 - The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,



Luke 13:3 - No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.


1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Aren't you forgetting that most Christians can't get these nuances?

When have you stopped talking to people without a college degree?

Again with the idiocy of a fool.

Being repentant is necessary to obtain forgiveness.

The Bible was written so a person could obtain the Grace of God without the necessity of having a college degree. 

Get over yourself.

Amen, brother.

It is literally and specifically "turning." Although we tend to associate it with certain feelings, it does not mean those feelings. It is associated by some with "asking forgiveness," but it is not asking forgiveness.

There's a scene somewhere in Josephus, after Josephus has swung over and sided with the Romans, in which he comes across a band of freedom fighters (or brigands, or rebels, or loyalists) and advises them to "repent": to stop fighting against the powers that be and give their allegiance to Rome. That's a pretty good picture of what repentance is.

That said, "one cannot escape damnation by claiming Christ and then continuing the same acts and attitudes. It doesn't work that way." Yes.

It is "turning from the way you were and giving your allegiance to Christ"—all of you: aims, affections, attitudes, and attitudes. You might "feel sorry." You might not. How you feel is irrelevant. It's moving from rebellion and selfishness to allegiance, commitment, devotion, loyalty, obedience.

And...you can't serve two masters. You can't serve both God and money. You can't serve both God and your country (although...to serve God first is to serve your country best). You can't serve both God and your political party. You can't even serve God and your family (although...to serve God first is to serve your family best). Etc.

EDIT: It doesn't really matter what repentance means "to me." It matters what it means. We can share opinions about what it means, but one (or both) of us might be wrong. What matters is what it means.

The opposite. I’m saying “my opinion about something” doesn’t trump its inherent or generally accepted meaning.

Well, obviously. I’m obviously answering the question from my perspective and not on behalf on someone else’s belief system, like Sikhism, Buddhism, or Jainism. Does this actually need to be said?

Um…let’s just remind everyone that freonbale’s response is only freonbale’s point of view! Just in case anyone missed that!

Or…are you trying to be authoritative here?

Thanks for being LNF police.

At this point, if you'd read through the thread, it is an opportunity for conversation with Christians and non-Christians. Not all Christians believe that God's forgiveness is already effected. You know, in the original LNF iteration, there ended up being two boards...a Religion Forum and a Christian Forum, because some Christian posters were tired of every thread turning into an apologetic for the Bible or prayer or the historical existence of Jesus or whatever. I opposed the move, but my recommendation didn't amount to much. That's not the route I would want to go again. But you're being pretty nitpicky...it seems the solution would be to separate the boards again (a really bad move), have monumentally cumbersome thread titles, or trust in the intelligence of the posters to be able to figure it out. My preference is the last.