Remember His Forgetting!

Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. (Hebrews 10:17)

One of the most important aspects of growing in the Christian faith is remembering His forgetting. Now, we should not think about this as if God is forgetful in the Way that you and I forget where we left our car keys or sunglasses. God’s forgetting is nothing like that at all. God “forgets” our sins because He chooses to regard us as if those sins had never been committed. When God says, “I will remember your sins no more,” He is telling us that His forgetting is a deliberate, intentional act of permanently putting our sinful acts away from His sight, because they have all been covered by the blood of His precious Son.

Hebrews 10:17 is by no means at isolated verse of Scripture. Consider:

I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25)

I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:34)

I will remember their sins no more. (Hebrews 8:12)

Over and over again, God reminds us that all our sins — past, present, and future — have been paid for through the cross work of Christ. When we “remember His forgetting,” we are to be gripped by the following Gospel truths:

• God will not rehearse our sins
• God will not relive our sins
• God will not revive our sins
• God will not recreate our sins

The good news of the Gospel is that we have been fully and freely forgiven, and God will never speak of our sins again. Remember, Paul tells us that “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Don’t miss that word “now.” Because we are in Christ, by grace through faith, right now and forevermore, there is no condemnation because Jesus took all our condemnation away and nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:14). Jesus was judged in our place. He took our scourging. He took our crown of thorns. He took our nails. He took our cross. He took our death. And on that third day, God vindicated His beloved Son by raising Him from the dead. When Jesus cried out from the cross, “It is finished,” He meant exactly what He said! Our sin debt to God the Father has been paid in full by God the Son. Christian, never forget His faithfulness to forgetfulness.

Once we have fully absorbed the truth that our God chooses to forget our sins, we should spend some time considering a very important question: Should we, as disciples of our Savior, forget our sins (Philippians 3:13-14) . . . or remember them (Ephesians 2:11-12)? I’d like to share some insights on these ideas on Wednesday. Until then, as you continue walking by faith and not by sight, remember His forgetting!  

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!