Does God Really Forget Our Sins?
"Forget about it." In my experience, people use that phrase only in two specific situations. The first is when they are making a scant attempt in New York or New Jersey - usually in relation to The Godfather or the mafia or something like that, as in "Fuhgettaboudit".
The other is when we are extending forgiveness to another person for relatively minor offenses. For example, if someone says, “I'm sorry I ate the last donut, Sam. I didn't realize you would never have one. " I could answer with something like this: “It's not a big deal. Forget about it."
I'd like to focus on that second idea for this article. This is because the Bible makes a surprising statement about how God forgives our sins, both our minor sins and our biggest mistakes.
An amazing promise
To get started, look at these amazing words from the Book of Hebrews:
Because I will forgive their wickedness
and I will no longer remember their sins.
Hebrews 8:12
I read that verse recently while I was conducting a Bible study, and my immediate thought was: is it true? I understand that God takes away all our guilt when he forgives our sins, and I understand that Jesus Christ has already taken punishment for our sins through His death on the cross. But does God really forget that we sinned in the first place? It is also possible?
While I talked to some trusted friends about this problem, including my pastor, I came to believe that the answer is yes. In fact, God forgets our sins and no longer remembers them, just as the Bible says.
Two key verses helped me to appreciate this problem and its resolution better: Psalm 103: 11-12 and Isaiah 43: 22-25.
Psalm 103
Let's start with these wonderful pictures of words of the psalmist King David:
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far east from west,
so far he has removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103: 11-12
I certainly appreciate that the love of God is compared to the distance between heaven and earth, but it is that second idea that speaks if God truly forgets our sins. According to David, God has separated our sins from us "as far east is from the west."
First, we need to understand that David is using poetic language in his psalm. These are not measurements that can be quantified with real numbers.
But what I like about David's choice of words is that he paints an image of infinite distance. No matter how far you travel east, you can always take another step. The same goes for the west. Therefore, the distance between east and west can best be expressed as an infinite distance. It is immeasurable.
And that's how far God has removed our sins from us. We are completely separate from our transgressions.
Isaiah 43
So, God separates us from our sins, but what about the part he forgets? Does it really eliminate your memory when it comes to our transgressions?
See what God himself told us through the prophet Isaiah:
22 “Yet you did not invoke me, Jacob, not
you got tired of me, Israel.
23You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings,
nor have you honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with grain offerings
nor did I tire you with requests for incense
24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me,
or you brought me the fat of your sacrifices.
But you burdened me with your sins
and you tired me with your offenses.
25 “I am also the one who deletes the
your transgressions, for my sake,
and no longer remembers your sins.
Isaiah 43: 22-25
The beginning of this passage refers to the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. Apparently the Israelites in the audience of Isaiah had stopped making their required sacrifices (or made them in a way that demonstrated hypocrisy), which was a sign of rebellion against God. Instead, the Israelites spent time doing what was right in their eyes and accumulating more sins against God.
God says the Israelites did not "tire" of trying to serve or obey him - in the sense that they did not make much effort to serve their Creator and God. Instead, they spent so much time sinning and rebelling that God himself became "tired" ”Of their offenses.
Verse 25 is the kicker. God reminds the Israelites of his grace by stating that it is He who forgives their sins and wipes out their transgressions. But note the added phrase: "for my sake". God specifically declared that he no longer remembered their sins, but it was not for the benefit of the Israelites - it was for the benefit of God!
God was essentially saying, “I'm tired of carrying around all your sin and all the different ways you have rebelled against me. I will completely forget your transgressions, but not to make you feel better. No, I will forget your sins so they no longer serve as a burden on my shoulders. "
Going forward
I understand that some people may struggle theologically with the idea that God could forget something. After all, he is omniscient, which means he knows everything. And how can he know everything if he voluntarily deletes information from his databases - if he forgets our sin?
I think that's a valid question, and I want to mention that many Bible scholars believe that God chose not to "remember" our sins means that he chooses not to act on them through judgment or punishment. This is a valid point of view.
But sometimes I wonder if we make things more complicated than they should be. In addition to being omniscient, God is omnipotent: he is omnipotent. He can do anything. And if so, who am I to say that an almighty Being cannot forget something he wishes to forget?
Personally, I prefer to hang my hat on the many times during Scripture that God specifically states not only to forgive our sins, but to forget our sins and never remember them again. I choose to take his Word for it and find his promise comforting.