332. Remember Sins no more
Hebrews 8:12b …and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Hebrews 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
God promises to forget. He will not remember our sins any more, but He will remember mercy; He will remember us but not our sins. And if God does not remember our sins, why should we? And if God does not remember the sins of others, why should we? And if God forgets, why can’t we? We need to hold this promise dearly and closely, for even strong Christians have a tendency to remember the wrong things and forget the right things.
The Thief on the Cross said it right: “Remember me.” And the Lord did so, and the Lord forgot his sins, even the sins for which he was being punished. The Lord hears when we cry: “Have mercy on me,” or, “Remember me,” or just, “Help me, Jesus!” God remembers us when He does not remember our sins and iniquities any more. God, because of Christ, does at least four things with our sin: 1) He casts them behind Him, 2) He throws them into the midst of the sea, 3) He removes them as far as the east is from the west, and 4) He remembers them no more.
Thank God that He has a selective memory. And God’s forgetfulness is forever. The “no more” is final, total, lifelong, infinite, and eternal. It is our weakness, along with Satan’s prompting, that recalls our sins and brings them to memory again and again. Ask for the faith to believe the promise just as God gives it. We do need to repent of sins, yes, but we do not need to dwell on them. We do need to restore what has been taken through apology and restitution, yes, but we cannot try to outweigh the bad by being really good. By the teaching of the Spirit we can distinguish between Law and Gospel. Generally, remember the “remember no more” promise.