God Forgives and Forgets (June 20, 2023)
“He will again have compassion on us,
and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of
the sea.” (Micah 7:19)
As Christians, sometimes we harbor feelings of guilt and shame for past sins
long after they have been forgiven and forgotten by the grace of a loving God.
We can’t forget them because we haven’t forgiven ourselves. One of Satan’s
deceptive tactics is to stir up within our hearts and minds doubts about our
salvation and eternal security that are our assurance as genuine believers who,
through faith, have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Our merciful
Father in heaven not only forgives our sins when we make confession and turn
away from them in repentance but He forgets our failures completely, never to
recall or hold them against us again. “For I will
forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34) We can also take comfort that no
confessed sin is beyond the realm of God’s far-reaching grace!
“For He
made Him who knew no sin to be sin
for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2
Corinthians 5:21)
It is human nature to say we’ve forgiven someone who has wronged us, but
too often we cannot forget their hurtful words or actions against us and
continue to hold onto heartfelt animosity toward them. Thankfully, however,
that is not a part of the divine nature of a gracious God who is faithful to
erase our transgressions from His memory through Jesus. God is able to forgive
and forget every sin and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness because of the work
of Christ on the cross that atoned for our trespasses and appeased God’s
righteous anger. Jesus paid for our sins in full and, as a result of our trust
in His death, burial, and resurrection, our transgressions have been removed “as far as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12) The salvation
that Christ suffered to secure is ours eternally!
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as
wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
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