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Can God Forgive For the Same Sin Again - John 1:8-9 and Romans 8 · If Bibles Could Talk

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we are unpacking, well,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: a fascinating stack of theological commentaries and biblical study notes
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  Speaker 1: that you, the listener, sent our way.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks for sending those in. It is a really
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: great topic.
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  Speaker 1: It is. So our mission today is to explore this
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  Speaker 1: deeply personal and, I mean, incredibly common spiritual struggle. Like,
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  Speaker 1: what happens when you ask God for forgiveness? You promise
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  Speaker 1: you will never repeat a certain sin, and then You
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  Speaker 1: just find yourself doing it all over again.
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  Speaker 2: Right. Like does God eventually just get tired of forgiving you?
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  Speaker 1: Exactly. Okay. Let's unpack this because it feels a lot like,
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  Speaker 1: you know, breaking a promise to a friend over and over.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. You expect them to eventually just walk away. Right.
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  Speaker 1: We kind of project that human exhaustion onto divine patience.
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  Speaker 1: So I guess the question for the sources is when
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  Speaker 1: we hit repeat on our mistakes, does grace have an
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  Speaker 1: expiration date?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the notes you shared actually point us to two
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  Speaker 2: really foundational scriptures here. So there's 1 John 1, 8
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  Speaker 2: through 9, and then Romans 8, 1.
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  Speaker 1: And, I mean, we know the verses, but what is
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  Speaker 1: the actual mechanism at play? Like, why doesn't God just
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  Speaker 1: hit a breaking point with us?
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  Speaker 2: So the authors argue that it really comes down to
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  Speaker 2: a complete misunderstanding of what grace actually is. We tend
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  Speaker 2: to think of grace as like a battery.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, like every time you mess up, you just drain
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  Speaker 1: a little more power.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. Exactly. And eventually, you know, it is just dead.
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  Speaker 2: But the theology presented in these texts describes grace more
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  Speaker 2: like a river. It is a constant, infinite flow.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, a river. That changes the visual entirely.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it really does. When Romans 8.1 guarantees that there
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  Speaker 2: is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: it is describing a completely different economy.
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  Speaker 1: Right, so it's not a ledger being wiped clean every day,
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  Speaker 1: it's a... a ledger that has been permanently destroyed.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. Yes.
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  Speaker 1: Well, here's where it gets really interesting though, because I
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  Speaker 1: hear constant flow and zero condemnation, but logically that just
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  Speaker 1: raises a massive red flag for me.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, I know where you are going with this. The
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  Speaker 2: free pass argument. Right.
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  Speaker 1: Like if I know I have an absolute guarantee of
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  Speaker 1: endless forgiveness, doesn't that inherently kill my motivation to change?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, It sounds like the ultimate loophole.
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  Speaker 2: It really does sound like that. Like, why put in
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  Speaker 2: the grueling work to break a bad habit if I
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  Speaker 2: have an infinite safety net?
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  Speaker 1: Exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that is the exact loophole the authors anticipate. And
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  Speaker 2: the strict boundary they draw here is just crucial.
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  Speaker 1: So they do address it directly then?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, definitely. They clarify that endless forgiveness is not,
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  Speaker 2: you know, a license to stop fighting. It is actually
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  Speaker 2: the fuel required to keep fighting.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, wait. Say more about that. How does it fuel?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the texts are super clear that while the condemnation
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  Speaker 2: is removed, the destructive nature of sin is not.
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  Speaker 1: Ah, I see.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so using grace as an excuse to keep messing
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  Speaker 2: up is basically fundamentally misunderstanding the whole purpose of grace.
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  Speaker 1: Right, because it is meant to heal you, not to
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  Speaker 1: just enable the very behaviors that are actively destroying your peace.
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  Speaker 2: Spot on. So struggling repeatedly doesn't mean you should give
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  Speaker 2: up on God. Because forgiveness isn't a free pass. It
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  Speaker 2: is a way to handle ongoing struggles without just, you know, despairing.
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  Speaker 1: That doctor analogy we sometimes hear actually perfectly explains this.
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  Speaker 1: You know, people get trapped in this heavy cycle where
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  Speaker 1: they mess up, they feel crushing guilt, and then they
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  Speaker 1: just stop praying.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they completely isolate themselves. Right.
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  Speaker 1: And it is exactly like avoiding your doctor simply because
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  Speaker 1: you are still sick. You think, I can't go back.
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  Speaker 1: I haven't gotten better yet.
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  Speaker 2: Which is so backwards when you actually think about it.
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  Speaker 1: It is. Because the doctor is the only one equipped
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  Speaker 1: to actually cure you. We just assume God is like
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  Speaker 1: a disappointed boss waiting to fire us.
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  Speaker 2: Instead of a physician trying to heal us. That is
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  Speaker 2: a great way to put it.
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  Speaker 1: So what does this all mean for you listening right now?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the source outlines a really practical strategy here. You
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  Speaker 2: start by just confessing honestly and seeking God's help.
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  Speaker 1: Okay. Honest confession.
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  Speaker 2: Right. But then you have to actually identify the triggers
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  Speaker 2: leading you back to that same mistake and take practical
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  Speaker 2: steps toward change.
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  Speaker 1: So forgiveness is not a trap of guilt. It is
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  Speaker 1: an opportunity to get back up and keep walking with him.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. The mechanism of shame is isolation. It tells you
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  Speaker 2: that you are too broken to be in his presence. Wow.
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  Speaker 1: So you really have to ask yourself, are you avoiding
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  Speaker 1: God right now because you feel ashamed of falling again? Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: When what you actually need is to return to him
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  Speaker 2: and seek that help.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly. You have to stop hiding from the doctor.
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  Speaker 2: I completely agree. And, you know, to leave you with
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  Speaker 2: a final thought to mull over based on all this.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, go for it.
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  Speaker 2: Well, since the text urges us to identify what keeps
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  Speaker 2: leading you back, think about how much of our repeated
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  Speaker 2: spiritual failure is actually just unexamined daily habits. Oh, wow.
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  Speaker 1: That is a really good point.
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  Speaker 2: Right? What would happen if we treated our moral struggles
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  Speaker 2: with the exact same practical troubleshooting we apply to a
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  Speaker 2: broken workflow at our job?
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  Speaker 1: That's fair.