Knowing You Are Forgiven

How does one know that ones transgressions (sins) have been forgiven by god?  It is possible that one could sincerely ask for forgiveness from god and yet not be grant such forgiveness?  If one is not granted the forgiveness one asked for, what are the consequences of living under the delusions that one has been fully forgiven?

Are there any sins for which there is no forgiveness granted?

Interesting!

Take the case of Emperor Constantine, the one who made Christianity the official state religion of the Roman empire.  He refused to be baptised until he was on his deathbed because he wanted the opportunity to carry on committing vile acts of savagery. In fact, not long after he called the Council of Nicea to establish doctrinal orthodoxy and resolve the Arian debate, he went home and had his wife and son killed. He was baptised on his deathbed, and within days he passed away.

So if forgiveness is open to anyone as long as there are sincere, could people like Hilter, Pol Pot and many other vile psychotic killers be forgiven if they have a sincere conversion and confession?

Would you be happy receiving such a converted and forgiven criminal into your congregation?

This theistic notion of forgiveness is quite bizarre as it does not take into account the idea of proportionality. For instance, all sins (crimes) are treated as equals. Thus someone who steals some food to feed his family is on a par with a mass murderer.  As long as they both ask for forgiveness sincerely, such forgiveness would be granted them.

I think the Catholic church has this notion of "Seven Deadly Sins" which gives the impression that these are more egregious than other sins.  Is forgiveness for a Deadly Sin more difficult to obtain than for an ordinary sin?

Please explain the "without corresponding acknowledgement" part. I don't quite understand.

If the offender does not acknowledge his mistakes, we should also forgive.

Olabowale, wrong thread!!!!!!

 I'm talking from the angle where someone hurts us, we have to learn how to forgive even if the person doesn't warrant it.

The offer of forgiveness by the laws of God is unconditional. To recieve it is however conditional and the condition is that the recipient genuinely repents of his or her sins. Therefore repentance is the only road to forgiveness. Forgiveness however does  not mean that the sinner is protected from the consequences of his deeds. Indeed he must reap what he has sown. The only difference is that if he has genuinely repented, the power of genuine repantance will interfere with the reciprocal actions emanating from his evil deals, may weaken the consequences or in exceptional cases dissolve them. Thus what may have cut off his head may just result in removing his cap. What may have resulted in a fatal motor accident may end up in a bust tyre or an unconscious action manifesting in the person helping a neighbour fix the tyre of his car. If we desire forgiveness, then we must repent but even then, the laws of God will return our activities to us to experience them and learn from them. Any person who imagines that he can go on and murder millions of people, slander their reputation etc and then by a brief prayer all the consequences of his activities are blown away is decieving himself. Indeed his personal experience in this life and the next will bring to his attention "That God is not mocked, whatever a man soweth, so shall he reap" The gift of forgiveness can not contradict the gift of justice. Although it may be mentally rewarding to believe that with the forgiveness of our sins, the consequences of those sins are also erased, the truth is that they are not until we live through them. Every person who pays attention to all that happens to him will soon notice that he still experiences the effects of his sins even if he has become a different person at the moment. That is the love and justice of God.