When you accept Christ as your Savior and receive salvation, you still reside in a sinful human nature. True repentance springs from the depths of your heart, where you resolve not to repeat past mistakes. Daily, through prayer, you seek God’s strength to steer clear of former sinful patterns and to become a transformed individual. As a new believer, you may find yourself slipping back into old sins, yielding to temptations that convict your spirit. The resulting shame and guilt drive you to your knees, seeking repentance once again. Thankfully, our merciful God looks into your heart and extends forgiveness when you pour it out to Him in prayer. However, if you persist in sin without any intention of growing in the Lord, the Bible reveals the consequences of such a path will bring forth worse punishment from God.
“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
