As we continue to live our daily lives, we occasionally become aware of accumulated sins, and we need to confess those to God as well and ask Him for forgiveness. So it is possible for an imperfect person to have a relationship with a perfect God, provided the person has gained forgiveness. This is how we are reconciled to God and continue to maintain a proper relationship with Him. Note that when we first come to Christ for forgiveness, God has not only assured us of forgiveness but also eternal life with Him. When God sees us in a state of forgiveness, He sees Christ’s crucifixion as the intercessory act and therefore the stain of sin is removed from us – we then have the promise of spending eternal life with God. Nothing can remove the promise of eternal life, even if we subsequently fall into sin. But we should repent and ask Him for forgiveness for those sins to maintain a proper relationship with Him.

Forgiveness of sins is arguably the most important dynamic between two people or between a person and God. Sin separates a person from God and therefore presents a problem in the relationship. The same is true for sin between two people: it has an impact upon the relationship until it is somehow dealt with. We know how we feel when we have offended someone or when we have been offended. It puts a damper on the relationship. We may even feel cautious around that person because there is unconfessed and unforgiven sin. Matthew 18:15 tells us that we should go to the person that either offended us or we may have offended. We should then confess our sin and make an apology or express to that person that we were offended. We need to do it in a gracious way to show the other person that we still love them. This act of forgiving or receiving forgiveness restores our relationship with others. The same is true with our relationship with God.