Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough.

My great concern is not whether you have sinned, but whether you are repenting your sins.

True repentance isn't just saying, "I'm sorry". It's. saying "I'm sorry, I'll never, ever do that again because my relationship with you means more to me than anything".

What we love once, we love forever. Shall there be joy in heaven over those who repent, yet no forgiveness for them upon earth?
--"Wanda

No child of God sins to that degree as to make himself incapable of forgiveness

The saved sinner is prostrate in adoration, lost in wonder and praise. He knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven. It serves as an expression of gratitude rather than an effort to earn forgiveness. Thus the sequence of forgiveness and then repentance, rather than repentance and then forgiveness, is crucial for understanding the gospel of grace.