88. Sins Blotted Out
Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
God makes many promises to blot out sin like a thick cloud: erase, cast behind me, cast into the sea, remove as far as east from west, forgive, send away, take away, redact, cover up, wash away, cleanse, and other verbs. As a thick cloud means there is no peeking, no haziness, no blurring, no dimness, no hint of transparency; but it means opaque, hidden and unseen. Sin are blotted out so much that even God does not see them. There can be no doubt about where our sins are: they are gone!
This is true because we have been redeemed. The price to pay for our redemption from kidnapping and slavery is the blood of Jesus Christ. Since our sins are blotted out in Jesus’ redemption, Sin, Death, and the Devil have no more legal claim to our souls. We are free indeed. If God cannot see our sins and the devil cannot see our sins then neither can we. And neither should we believe the lie that any sins are still in the books, laid to our account. Our sins are no longer in the book of our life, but our names are written in the Book of Life. This will be seen on the Judgment Day.
We still sin and we are still sinners; therefore, we repent and die to sin daily, and we believe in Jesus and arise to new life daily. I am, like Paul, the chief of sinners (since I know more about my own sins than others). I am aware of my sin, but I am more aware of the forgiveness of sins. I believe daily that sins and transgressions are blotted out. I stop looking at my sins because I can’t find them, but I look at Jesus on the cross, and I can find Him any time.