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In the bible, it reads (forgive me as I don't have the exact passage) that the Holy Spirit will be given to those who are righteous.

My question is, are there any examples of people who were favored by God, sinned, and then found favor with God again?

user1477388
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  • This question needs to be narrowed to a specific theological framework. There are many Christians who believe this is impossible in one way or another. – Flimzy Jul 10 '14 at 19:19
  • @Flimzy I have edited the question with a more specific question. – user1477388 Jul 10 '14 at 19:23
  • possible duplicate of What is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? – LCIII Jul 10 '14 at 19:26
  • It seems the edit has made the question even more vague. Are you asking now if blasphemy against the holy spirit can be forgiven? Or are you asking if anyone can re-gain lost faith? – Flimzy Jul 10 '14 at 19:31
  • @Flimzy I believe I am asking both questions; i.e. if someone blasphemes against the holy spirit, can they regain their lost faith and be forgiven (and once again receive the holy spirit)?" – user1477388 Jul 10 '14 at 19:33
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    @user1477388: I don't think they do. In my view, blasphemy against the holy spirit is probably an impossible thing to do, and is mentioned as hyperbole. However, losing one's faith is very possible--and it is also possible to re-gain it. But there are many Christians who would disagree with me (on both points). The important thing is that it is two questions with distinct answers--even if they are related, and according to some doctrinal systems, the same. – Flimzy Jul 10 '14 at 19:37
  • @Flimzy Interesting. I guess I was looking for a distinct biblical citation that would say something like, "you can lose your faith and come back and God will forgive you for 'falling off the wagon' and treat you like it never happened." – user1477388 Jul 10 '14 at 19:41
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    You won't find something that concise. The best you'll find is various doctrines on the issue. The Calvinist view is that it is impossible to lose your faith (and therefore also impossible to re-gain it). There are also those who say that one can lose their faith, but that it is then impossible to re-gain. There are also those who say you lose your salvation every time you commit a sin. So you see, it's a very complicated question, and needs to be made much more specific. – Flimzy Jul 10 '14 at 19:45
  • @Flimzy I see, thanks for that. I didn't know there could be such opposing views on such "core" principals. I will close the question. I am still glad I asked it; always good to connect with other minds on confusing subjects. – user1477388 Jul 10 '14 at 19:47
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    @user1477388: Don't feel bad. It's common that newcomers here don't quite know how to pose a question. We're a rather advanced/academic-level site about Christianity, which makes simple "Sunday school" answers rather hard to answer. I encourage you to stick around, and read our help center and on Meta, to help you get a feel for hour our site works. – Flimzy Jul 10 '14 at 19:49
  • @JohannesSchaub-litb - As a general rule, discussing items like this in comments is not encouraged on StackExchange sites. Your very first comment here reads like the start of a good answer from a specific theological framework. I'd encourage you to post answers rather than comments. In the meantime, I'm deleting the comment chain here because it really doesn't belong on the main site. If you really want an open discussion, that belongs in chat, not comments. – David Stratton Jul 10 '14 at 20:15
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    Hi user1477388 First, you shouldn't edit follow-up questions into the original question. You should ask a separate question (except in this case there is already a question on the site that answers it). Second, you are going to have to be a bit clearer with what you are looking for. Are you looking for examples of people who were favoured by God, sinned, and then found favour with God again? There are very many examples of that. – DJClayworth Jul 10 '14 at 20:27
  • @DJClayworth Yes! That's exactly what I was looking for. Can you please share some examples? Sorry if that wasn't clear from my question. – user1477388 Jul 10 '14 at 23:58
  • I can do that if you edit the question so that's what it asks. Take all the stuff about 'blasphemy against the Holy Spirit' and just ask that simple question. – DJClayworth Jul 11 '14 at 01:46
  • @DJClayworth done – user1477388 Jul 11 '14 at 02:33
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    Not a real example, but the prodigal son is often quoted in this case. –  Jul 11 '14 at 15:38

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The closest thing to a real concise example is the parable of the prodigal son.

The story is found in Luke 15:11-32

The story starts with the son demanding his share of the inheritance, so, unfortunately, it is a difficult case to make that he found favor with his father in the first place.

The son then leaves his father's house and squanders the inheritance and eventually ends up poor and eating pig slop. While finishing up a big bowl of the stuff he remembers that his father's servants eat better than this, so he decides to go back, ask for forgiveness, and offer to work as lower servant for his father.

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

Upon seeing him, the father immediately favored his son once more, or rather, never ceases favoring him in the first place.

The father's great cause for celebration is reveled in the last sentence:

We had to celebrate and be glad, because [my son] was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.

A great cause for joy, indeed.

  • Ah, yes thank you so much. I forgot about this story. I am not sure if it's the same story as the one I recall, in which, there were two sons, and one of them left and the other stayed. The one who stayed expected to receive his father's land, but when the one who left finally returned, his father gave the land to him instead. Does that ring a bell? – user1477388 Jul 11 '14 at 16:25
  • Perhaps I remembered that differently. It seems his father only gives him the fattened calf, not the land. http://biblehub.com/luke/15.htm Thanks again for your answer. – user1477388 Jul 11 '14 at 16:30
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    @user1477388 Yeah, I think you might just be remembering it a little off. The son who left takes his inheritance, which might have included land, which we can assume he sold, possibly back to his father. Then he runs off to Las Vegas with the money, so to speak. The son that stayed was upset because he never left his father's side and never disobeyed him. That son thinks the other should not have been taken back. –  Jul 11 '14 at 18:19