God Forgives And Forgets Our Sins
Today’s post is a little different and rather long, but it’s something I feel the Lord put on my heart to share, because it’s important for us to remember that there are so many things about God, and the way He does things that we can’t fully understand or explain, as these following verses from Isaiah 55 indicate:
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.”
Understanding and realizing that God disciplines and corrects us for sin and disobedience in our lives as Christians, is a FAR cry from believing Satan’s lie that God CONTINUES to punish us for the sins we committed BEFORE we were saved, and that’s very important to understand when standing for the restoration of our marriages. It’s clear from the verses above that when we forsake our sin and turn to God, He has mercy on us and “pardons” us and leads us into a life of joy and peace. He even says that instead of thornbushes, pine trees will grow, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. And He does that for the LORD’S renown, or for HIS praise and glory, and it will NEVER be destroyed! That’s definitely NOT a picture of God punishing us for the sins He forgave us for when we were saved, which is confirmed by the following verses:
Psalm 103:12
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Hebrews 10:17
Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
Isaiah 43:25
“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
1 Kings 8:34
then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers.
Numbers 14:19
In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”
1 Kings 8:36
then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.
Jeremiah 33
8 I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.
9 Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.’
2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Matthew 9:6
But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”
Psalm 79:9
Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Hebrews 8:12
For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Hebrews 10:18
And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
Leviticus 5:10
The priest shall then offer the other as a burnt offering in the prescribed way and make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
Micah 7:18
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
Psalm 32:1
] Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Matthew 26:28
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Mark 1:4
And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Luke 1
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Acts 5:31
God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.
Acts 10:43
All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Acts 13
37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.
38 “Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
39 Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.
Romans 4
6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”
Ephesians 1
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
Colossians 1
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Romans 8
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Since Jesus died to free us from condemnation for sins we committed before being saved, and God remembers them NO MORE, it breaks my heart when people have a hard time understanding and accepting that. The Lord’s protection and blessings ARE conditioned on obedience to His word, because He loves us and wants the best for us, which only comes through obeying His word. So, when we are disobedient, He will discipline and correct us, just as any good parent corrects and disciplines a child they love, as Proverbs 3:12 says because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. Disobedience and sin in our lives as Christians also keeps us from attaining the plans and purpose God has for our lives, which is for the ultimate praise and glory of Jesus, so He disciplines us to get us back on the right track. So when Satan attacks us and attempts to deceive us with thoughts that we’re being punished for the sins we committed before we were saved, it’s very important to take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ by remembering the following verses:
Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
John 10:10 (AMP)
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).
Then in John 10:28 Jesus said I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. And in John 10:29, He said My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. That means Satan can’t kill, Steal, or destroy us, but he certainly can kill, steal and destroy our testimony, which he does if we let him convince us to believe lies about the promises and word of God. And Revelation 12:10-11 makes it clear why he tries to do that, because it says Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.