For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing and I will never again remember their sins. Hebrews 8:12 HCSB
In 1 John 1:19, we are told that if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now once God forgives our sin, He forgets our sin. We are told in Psalm 103:12 that He will remove our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. Once we are convicted of our sin (this is when God taps us on the soldier and our conscience bothers us) and we repent, God forgives it and forgets about it. This is where we must be careful because God brings conviction, but he does not bring condemnation. The devil brings condemnation.
God knows we are miserable sinners, that’s no surprise to Him. This is why He sent His son to die on the cross, so miserable sinners like me and you might be saved and have the opportunity to spend eternity in heaven (John 3:16). Jesus’ blood was shed in order to wash away our sins. So, let’s look at this like a stain on a shirt. Let’s say that you pre-soak that stain. For Christians that would be like applying bible study and prayer to our sin. That detergent will start to loosen up that stain and prepare it for the wash. God’s Holy Word and prayer softens our hearts and opens our minds so that we might hear from God when we read His word and it opens the lines of communication for us to speak with Him. Now when you put the shirt into the washing machine and the stain is washed away, you can’t go into the machine and pull the stain out, right? The stain is gone. When we confess our sins to God through our intercessor, Jesus Christ, that’s a wrap. Our sins are gone.
The problem comes in when the devil uses guilt to try to discourage us and convince us that we will never measure up. He tells us that we will never be good enough. But, I have good news. He’s a liar. We are told in John 8:44 that when he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. So, why would we give him the time of day? Why would we listen to him when he tells us that our sin is so great that God won’t forgive it? He’s lying, don’t believe him.
But let’s take this forgiveness thing a little further. There is a phrase that says we should forgive and forget. I have often heard people say, “I can forgive, but I can never forget.” Okay, I understand feeling that way, I have felt that way a time or two in my past, but praise God He has helped me overcome that. Someone sins against you and it is bad. It is a horrible betrayal and you are angry, and deeply hurt. You thought they loved you, you’ve been kind to them, and this is how they repay you. You are willing to forgive, but you just can’t forget what they have done. What you are saying is that you are giving lip service to the whole forgiving thing. You are going to carry bitterness and anger around in your heart because that person doesn’t really deserve your forgiveness, right? I mean the bible tells us that we are to forgive others, but God must not understand how horrible this person was.
Well in Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus clearly tells us, “For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing.” Now as we go on to Matthew 7, Jesus says in verses 1-2, “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For with the judgement you use, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
If you determine that someone’s sin against you is so bad that it doesn’t deserve to be forgiven aren’t you judging? Haven’t you appointed yourself judge, jury, and executioner?
Stay with me as I dig a little deeper here. Have you ever sinned against God? We are told in Romans 3:23 that we all sin and we know that we do. Our heavenly Father saw this coming and made a way out for us. He sent His one and only Son to earth to live out an example for us to follow and then to be tortured and humiliated and put to death on a cross. We are told that there is no greater love (John 15:13). So let’s say you have loved someone with a great love. Have you died for them? I think not. Perhaps you feel as though you have died because you have given all your heart and soul over to them, but you have not died a physical death. Then let’s say that this person betrays you. Well, isn’t that what we do to God when we sin? Don’t we betray Him? Yes, I know this is an ouch moment. But that is exactly what we do. Now let’s say that God said to you, I will forgive your sin, but I wont’ forget it. We’d be in quite the pickle wouldn’t we? If God refused to forgive our sin, we would be doomed to eternity in hell. What good would the forgiveness be if He was unwilling to forget about it?
And while we are off in the deep here, let me ask you another question. When you mess up, are you able to forgive yourself? You see, the bible tells us that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Mark 12:30). It also tells us that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Mark 12:31). When we love ourselves we are able to get past our mistakes and move on. We should love our neighbors and be able to do the same with them. Now, let me say that this doesn’t mean that you have to trust someone ever again. It doesn’t mean that you have to continually allow them to abuse you whether it be emotionally or physically. But, it does mean that you accept the grace and mercy that God offers you and you extend it to others.
When we are truly sorry for our sins and we wholeheartedly confess our sins to Him and ask for His forgiveness or repent, God forgives us our sins. When God forgives us our sins, he forgets about them. We are no longer held accountable for that sin. This isn’t a license to sin because the truth of the matter is if we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind we don’t want to sin. But when we do mess up, He is faithful to forgive. By the same token, He calls us to follow His lead and forgive those who have sinned against us and forget about it. We are to put off anger, bitterness, and wrath (Ephesians 4:31). We are to leave vengeance to the Lord (Romans 12:19) and believe me we serve a God who is just. If that person who sins against you doesn’t repent, God will deal with them so harshly that you will feel sorry for them. Trust me, I’ve been there, done that and got the t-shirt.
We all make mistakes. From time to time we are going to sin against God. There will be times when someone sins against you. If God is willing to forgive our sins and forget them, then we must be willing to do the same for others. Forgive them, and forget about it.
Have a great weekend.