Remember to Forget

Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!

— Micah 7:19

 

Have you ever done anything that you are ashamed of? Have you ever done things you wished you had not done? If you have repented of those sins and have turned your back on them, the Bible clearly teaches that you are forgiven.

There is something in us that wants to keep dredging up our sins. Maybe we feel that by doing so, we are somehow making amends for the wrong that we have done. Maybe by punishing ourselves, we think we are somehow appeasing God. But this is wrong and thoroughly unscriptural.

Acts 13:38–39 says, " 'Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God—something the law of Moses could never do.' "

Speaking of our sins, God said, "And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins" (Hebrews 8:12). And Micah 7:18–19 says,

Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love. Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!

Have you ever lost anything in a lake or in the ocean? It is pretty much a lost cause. Once it goes down, it goes way down. God has taken your sin and has thrown it into the deepest part of the ocean. Simply put, it is gone. Therefore, we should not choose to remember what God has chosen to forget.

When Christians Stumble

For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."

— Romans 4:3

 

Contrary to what some might believe, the Bible doesn't teach that if you are a Christian, you will never stumble. It doesn't teach that if you are a true believer, you will not periodically make a mistake or fall short. But it does teach that if you are a true believer and have had a lapse or a stumble, you will always get up and move forward. That is the way to truly determine whether someone is a real believer.

Although Abraham was a friend of God, which Scripture specifically mentions three times, it is also clear that he had his lapses of faith. Yet the Bible says that "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (Romans 4:3). Does this mean that Abraham was declared righteous because of the good things he did? Did God justify Abraham because he lived such a holy, pure, and flawless life? Hardly. Any honest look at the life of Abraham would clearly show that he was a flawed man.

Having said that, it is also important to point out that although Abraham deviated occasionally from the straight and narrow, he always came back.

If someone says he or she is a Christian but falls away and never returns to the faith, then he or she was not a believer. As 1 John 2:19 says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us."

True believers will be miserable in their sin and will eventually beat a quick path back to the cross of Calvary.