Theology of Forgiveness: Are cheaters forgiven without admitting wrongdoing?

Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God….”

-Acts 2:37-38a, NLT

Remember how Jesus asked God to forgive those crucifying him from the cross (see Luke 23:34)?

These verses from Acts 2 makes no sense if those Jewish people were already forgiven as so many distorted teachings on forgiveness say. The act of repenting would be unnecessary.

JESUS Himself already forgave them, after all!

Yet, the Apostle Peter instructs them to repent of their sins, anyway. I think this is important and relevant to today’s question:

Is a cheater forgiven if they refuse to admit wrongdoing?

Can you repent if you refuse to admit wrongdoing? No. I do not think so.  Repentance minimally requires an admission of wrongdoing. To refuse to do this is to refuse the gift of forgiveness as unnecessary.

It is like someone dying from thirst with a table filled with water bottles in their presence. They are not saved because they refuse to admit their need for the life-giving water before them.

That is how forgiveness is for a cheater refusing to admit wrongdoing.

They aren’t anymore forgiven than those Jewish people hearing Peter’s message in Acts 2. The step of receiving the gift is necessary. And the way to do that is to repent as it comes to forgiveness admitting our need and wrongdoing.

Is a cheater forgiven if they refuse to admit wrongdoing? Not as I read the Bible.

They have chosen to die of thirst than to humble themselves to receive the gift of water freely available to them if they’d only admit need and repent.     *A version of this post ran previously.