What if you could erase your mistakes from someone’s memory? That harsh word, that shame-soaked failure, that painfully exposed lie, all forgotten in an instant. I have longed for the chance to undo the damage done. Maybe you also know those pains.
We may not be able to erase our mistakes from someone else’s memory, but as a child I was under the impression that I had the power to erase sins from God’s mind with a simple word: “Forgive me.” If she apologized, she would forget that I had done something wrong. This seems to be the implication of verses like: “I, I am the one who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Is 43:25). Or “For I will have mercy on his iniquities, and I will remember his sins no more” (Heb 8:12).
However, as I grew older and learned about the omniscience of God, doubts arose about the validity of this idea. We read in 1 John 3:20 that God knows everything, even the depths of our sinful hearts. Hebrews 4:13 says that we are all naked and exposed before God. How could a God who knows everything be unaware of my past sin? Even if God forgot, I certainly haven’t. Could I possess a knowledge that He does not have?
Perhaps the underlying question is: “What is God like?” Is forgetfulness consistent with his character? His Word reveals that He is unchangeable. Therefore, he neither gains nor loses knowledge and his understanding is always perfect. God is also just and therefore he must punish sin.
If these things are true, how could God know our sin one moment and forget it the next? How could a just God overlook wickedness? Although the verses that speak of God not remembering our sin may seem contrary to his omniscience and justice, all of his Word is true and never contradicts himself. So what happens here?
God remembers
The Bible often talks about God remembering or not remembering, but not in the same way that we talk about remembering to get the mail or forgetting a doctor’s appointment. When God remembers, he responds. the hebrew word zakar It does not imply that God has forgotten and then suddenly remembered, but that he has remembered something. To remember in this sense is to act according to something.
When God remembers people, plans and promises, he works in accordance with his faithfulness. He remembered Noah when he acted on the promise to protect his family from him (Gen 8:1). He remembered Rachel in her barrenness and gave her a son according to her covenant to make Abraham’s family a great nation (Gen 30:22). God’s people often ask her to remember them according to her constant love.
Likewise, the fact that God does not remember our sin is not voluntary amnesia. However, in his mercy, he does not act against us according to our sin. When the Lord forgives, he does not remember our sins to punish or recriminate us. He doesn’t shake his head in disappointment as he whispers, “Shame on you.”
Instead, God removes our sin from us like the east from the west (Ps 103:12). “I will remember his sins no more” does not mean that he forgets our sin, but that he does not take it into account (Heb 8:12). He treats us as if we had never sinned.
The fact that God does not remember our sin is not voluntary amnesia. But, in his mercy, he does not act against us according to our sin
Both just and merciful
Thus God’s omniscience remains intact. He knows, but he doesn’t bring it up. He sees, but he does not rebuke. He abounds in love and compassion for his wayward children.
But what about His holiness? Does the Lord abandon justice for mercy? Do you overlook evil and let it pass without being applied to you? Not at all. Listen to how God describes himself:
The Lord, the Lord, God gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in love and faithfulness, who maintains his love until a thousand generations later, and who forgives iniquity, rebellion and sin; but that he does not leave the guilty unpunished (Ex 34: 6-7).
He forgives, but does not acquit the guilty. He does not treat us according to our sins, but they must be punished. How is this possible? The answer is found in the cross of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became a man. He lived a completely sinless life, but he took upon himself the wrath of God that we deserved. He died for our sins and rose in victory over death. When we trust him to save us from judgment, he becomes our representative. He no longer remembers us according to our sin, but according to the perfection of Christ. His justice becomes ours.
God does punish all sin, but if we are in Christ, that wrath rests on Him. The cross surprisingly displays, in harmony, aspects of divine character that might otherwise seem irreconcilable. What implacable justice and what generous mercy! How amazing his anger and how unimaginable his love!
a greater hope
We do not serve a God whose memory is erased at the sound of human confession. Rather, we serve a God who sees the sin lurking in the dark corners of our hearts as bright as noon, but who chooses to offer us mercy in Christ. We serve a Savior who knows us fully and continues to love us deeply, even until death.
We have a hope far greater than that of a God who forgets. Our hope is a forgiving God.
Originally posted on . Translated by Team Coalition.