Lost in God’s Forgetfulness

Dearly beloved, you’ve been forgiven!

You don’t have to earn God’s forgiveness; Jesus Christ earned it for you. You were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you received the gift of holy spirit.

Forgiveness is inherent in the new birth. When you confessed Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised him from the dead, you were saved, forgiven, and you received the gift of holy spirit.

God does not bring up your past sins; the adversary does. God does not condemn you; the adversary does. God does not hold your past over your head, just ask Moses, or Paul; the adversary does.

The Lord Jesus sent the Apostle Paul, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”

Paul had before been "chief sinner", but he obtained mercy in Christ Jesus the Lord; the Lord came into the world to save sinners. God holds Paul up as a prototype of His forgiveness.

The Lord Jesus Christ paid for our sins in full. There is no more sacrifice to be made for them. The righteous one suffered for the unrighteous and God accounted the merits of his work to us.

“He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor did He reward us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” That’s pretty far, is it not?

Beloved, Jesus Christ blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. He blotted them out, not enshrined them.

We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace! He freely justified us from sin by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

He set forth Jesus Christ to be a propitiation through believing in his blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through His forbearance. There is therefore now no condemnation from God to those who are in Christ Jesus.

There is no question about God’s forgiveness; the question is do we believe it?

“If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”

The word “condemn” here is “kataginosko”, and it means down knowledge, knowledge against us. We know too much about the condition of our flesh, the old man. How do we change this bad thinking process?

We “assure our hearts before Him.” “Assure” means to persuade. We must persuade our hearts with what God reveals in His Word concerning who we are in Christ. We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus on the basis of his good works. Believe that! Think that! Be persuaded of what he accomplished, dearly beloved.

What about forgiving others?

“And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.”

What is the standard? “Even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.” It’s a done deal, dearly beloved. He paid for your forgiveness and for mine. We've been forgiven; show this kindness to one another. Don't be hard hearted, be tenderhearted.

According to Jeremiah 31:34, when God forgives, He does not remember our sins. Our sins are lost in His forgetfulness. If they get thrown in your face, it is not by Him.

Stop focusing on your sins and shortcomings and focus on Jesus Christ’s accomplishment over sin. You are the righteousness of God in Christ, dearly beloved. You now stand in the presence of God “in Christ” without any sense of sin, guilt, or condemnation. It was God’s idea to forgive you in Christ.

If you have a head problem with condemnation, get fully persuaded that you are what God says you are in Christ. Confess that, beloved.

“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” The context of this statement is forgiveness. All we must do to forgive someone else is to remember that for which God forgave us.

We are no more slaves of sin; we are the Lord’s freemen. We have the victory over sin and death in Christ Jesus our Lord, dearly beloved: we’ve been forgiven in Christ Jesus our Lord!