Forgiving And Forgetting

        

        God's forgiveness and forgetfulness of sin through Christ Jesus is amazing and Christians should do their best to not take His awesome package of grace for granted.

        The prophet Jeremiah recorded The Lord's words to His people Israel about a future time when forgiveness of sin and forgetfulness of the same would be manifest. 

Jeremiah 31:31-34

"For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

        David, the warrior-poet-song-writer, was also inspired in this line of thought as he penned -

Psalm 103:11-12

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

        However, Christians can now claim these awesome guarantees of forgiveness and forgetfulness of sin by God through the grafting of the believing branch or Christian into the Vine or Jewish messiah (Romans 11).

        Many years after David, the apostle Paul would be inspired to echo very similar sentiments as David when he encouraged the believers in Rome, saying,

Romans 8:38-39

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

        The Good News then is that humanity's mistakes, our sins or disobedient behavior toward God is forgiven and forgotten through faith in the sacrifice and victory of Christ Jesus. Once the decision is made to follow Jesus, the next step is to not abuse Christ's sacrificial love gift of redemption by continuing in our sinful ways, but live for Him and with Him for eternity. 

        Christians have come out of darkness into Christ's marvelous light and must live in and by the guiding Light of His Holy Spirit. However, this Pivot in life brings great challenges. The return to old ways of thinking, imagining, speaking and behaving will be a temptation. Certain areas of our life will be targeted by the enemy to steal our joy and in many cases the devil needs only one entry way to ruin a life.

        However, not only was Christ's sacrifice on the cross once and for all sins ever committed, but His payment secured anytime, all-personal-access to God (Luke 23:44-46). Any second of any day we can come boldly or confidently to God's throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Persistent Christian living in the view of Christ's amazing restoration of our relationship with Father God is the believer's goal. 

        Christians are not perfect, they are being made perfect. "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:16) - is not only a directive to believers to be set apart and different for God's influence on a wicked world, but it is a process. John encourages us "When we approach Him, confessing our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)". 

        So, our relationship with God is saved but our struggle with sin remains. We are a new creature in Christ Jesus. We must stay in line, in favor with God and His Word. Daily walking with God, Christians become more sin-less. This means there is more for the believer to do in response to Christ's forgiveness. Christians must follow the example of Christ Jesus and forgive. 

"For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:14-16)

        For the human being, either forgiving or forgetting an offense is hard and seems impossible. But the mind, soul and body of the unforgiving is the one who suffers. Forgiveness breaks all the mental, physical and spiritual shackles that would have us imprisoned to the likes of bitterness, distrust and hate. Forgiveness and forgetfulness of offenses places the relationship back on proper footing. Paul supplied incredible words of encouragement when he told the Philippian believers and Christians through the ages - "I can do all this through Him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13)

        God's amazing grace, His incredible favor and compassion toward all came at the price of His Son's life. The high price demands a high standard of living for Christ followers. There are at least three instances before Jesus died and paid for all sins that He forgave an individual their sin on the spot (Matt. 9:2; Luke 7:48; Luke 23:42-43). How much more should Christians, new creatures in Christ, validate their relationship with Jesus than to follow in His large footsteps by Forgiving And Forgetting.