We know repentance is required before coming to Christ and receiving salvation. Repentance and forgiveness are also necessary for our spiritual growth and maturation; it’s God’s will 2 Corinthians 7:1.
Some will argue we are to forgive forever and they point to Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question, “how often shall I forgive my brother who sins against me?” Jesus replied “up to seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:21-22. But continue reading; Jesus goes on to tell the parable of a king who wanted to “settle his accounts with his servants”. One servant who owed a large sum couldn’t pay up, so the king ordered the servant, his wife and everything he owned to be sold to pay off the debt. But the servant repented “he fell down and pleaded with him to have mercy on him and give him more time”. “The king had compassion and let him go and forgave the debt” Matthew 18:23-27.
Jesus teaches rebuking, repentance and forgiveness 
Luke 17:3
If he continues to sin against you and repents, then we must forgive him. If he doesn’t repent, he must be set aside, outside, avoiding association avoiding association with the unrepentant Matthew 18:17.
Judas betrayed Jesus and cried with remorse and confessed to men, but he didn’t repent to God; instead, he hung himsel Matthew 27:3–5. Peter felt great sorrow and “wept bitterly” over his denial of Christ, Matthew 26:75, but in his sorrow he repented and it resulted in a heart-felt genuine repentance and a change of direction, as later he boldly proclaimed Christ in the face of persecution Acts 4. He didn’t deny or justify what he had done, Peter sincerely to God repented.
Peter denied Christ 3 times. When he realized what he had done, he mournfully repented. Jesus forgave him and he returned to Christ. Peter went on to become an Apostle of Jesus Christ. Repentance is key to our spiritual growth. Peter didn’t deny or justify what he had done. Peter sincerely to God repented Matthew 26:69-75.
Repentance and Forgiveness
When our faith grows weak and, like Peter, we deny our Lord in word or deed, even then we can repent and receive forgiveness. Repentance is a godly sorrow; a grieving because you have sinned against God, broken His law. Simply saying sorry or feeling sorry is not repenting. Today, people seek forgiveness from men without repentance to God. They’re sorry they got caught, not because they have sinned against God.
Saying, “sorry,” being sorry, or even feeling sorry are not the same as repenting. A person can feel sorry for something without dealing with what caused the sin. “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death” 2 Corinthians 7:10. Repentance to God leads you to address what caused you to sin. The underlying cause of all wrongdoing is “stinking thinking” or wrong thinking.
Consequences of Unrepentance
The apostle Paul warned us about the consequences of unrepentance: “Because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God ‘will repay each person according to what they have done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil” Romans 2:5–9. We work for rewards!
Psalm 62:12
Believers who sin forget or don’t realize that we work for our eternal rewards. God doesn’t grade on a curve. Jesus paid the death penalty for sin for the whole world. It is the true believer who by faith, receives the gift of eternal life. When believers sin, we’re forgiven, but if we continue walking in sin and don’t address the cause and repent; We risk suffering loss on this side of the cross as well as in eternity. There will be loss for the unrepentant.
Hindrance to Repentance
Pride and lusts are the two stinking thoughts that lead to sin, and sin leads to death. In these last days, I have seen and heard once faithful men fall into sins of greed and idolatry and then try to justify themselves. They may pull it off with their family. God is not deceived, and discerning men of God are not fooled. Churches are closed, because of men like that. We’ve been warned as John said “all that is in the world—lusts of the eyes and pride of life is from Satan 1 John 2:16.
Revelations 3:19
Repenting is Growing up
As we are being spiritually renovated into His likeness, some will slip and fall and get caught up is some immoral behavior. If it progresses unchecked, then God steps in the life of the falling believer and disciplines. Our God is patient and merciful, so His discipline may not be immediate or maybe it will. It’s His choice. It is God at work in you.
None of us has been perfected yet. We are a work in progress. Repentance is part of the believers growing up into the image of our perfect Lord Jesus Christ. They are those who are full of pride and error, thinking they have already arrived.
As we watch folks fall away and leave faith in Jesus alone, we know we are in the last days 2 Thessalonians 2:3. In John’s prophetic visions of the last days, Jesus speaks to the end-time churches. He warns them 6 times in 2 chapters, to repent of their sins or they will lose (Revelations 2:5, 2:16, 2:21, 2:22, 3:3, 3:19).