Does God forget our sins?

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MOC

Member
Mar 20, 2020
84
69
18
#1
First, lets remember, as Christians we cannot call God anything less than omniscient. He knows everything and forgets nothing. Hebrews 10:16-17, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary." So, is this passage telling us that God truly forgets? No. When scripture speaks of God "forgetting" our past transgressions, Its actually revealing to us that those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, will have their sins overlooked by our Heavenly Father. God simply chooses to remember them no more. God's love for us is compared to the distance between Heaven and earth. When a Christian confesses and repents of his sins, God separates our sins from us, "as far as the east is from the west."

Isaiah 43:25 "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." God has a legitimate case against not only His chosen people, such as in this passage, but for gentiles as well. God stretches out His mercy to everyone.

Psalm 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." When does one stop traveling east and starts traveling west? This verse shows the greatness of God's removal of our sins and how He chooses not to remember them.

Isaiah 38:17 "for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." Here, God shows His mercy toward Hezekiah by not punishing him with regards to his sins.

1 John 1:9 God is faithful in that if we confess our sins, He will forgive us and cleanse us. God does not hold our sins against us.

Jesus became sin for us and in Him we become righteous. God does not hold our sins over us. He does not call out our sins in a way that is destructive for us. When Jesus shed His blood for us, He set us free from the bondage of sin where Christians can experience a new life as a believer in Christ. In this way God "forgets" our sins.
 
Dec 12, 2013
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#2
As far as the East is from the West and their sins and iniquities I will remember NO MORE seems clear enough to me.

The Mercy of the Lord endures FOREVER <--this is what makes eternal security a reality!
 
Dec 9, 2011
14,130
1,803
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#3
First, lets remember, as Christians we cannot call God anything less than omniscient. He knows everything and forgets nothing. Hebrews 10:16-17, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary." So, is this passage telling us that God truly forgets? No. When scripture speaks of God "forgetting" our past transgressions, Its actually revealing to us that those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, will have their sins overlooked by our Heavenly Father. God simply chooses to remember them no more. God's love for us is compared to the distance between Heaven and earth. When a Christian confesses and repents of his sins, God separates our sins from us, "as far as the east is from the west."

Isaiah 43:25 "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." God has a legitimate case against not only His chosen people, such as in this passage, but for gentiles as well. God stretches out His mercy to everyone.

Psalm 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." When does one stop traveling east and starts traveling west? This verse shows the greatness of God's removal of our sins and how He chooses not to remember them.

Isaiah 38:17 "for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." Here, God shows His mercy toward Hezekiah by not punishing him with regards to his sins.

1 John 1:9 God is faithful in that if we confess our sins, He will forgive us and cleanse us. God does not hold our sins against us.

Jesus became sin for us and in Him we become righteous. God does not hold our sins over us. He does not call out our sins in a way that is destructive for us. When Jesus shed His blood for us, He set us free from the bondage of sin where Christians can experience a new life as a believer in Christ. In this way God "forgets" our sins.
Yes GOD IS Omniscient but HE IS Merciful and the bible says that GOD IS a SPIRIT and those who worship HIM MUST worship HIM In Spirit and In truth.

GOD relates to the person's Spirit which was created PerFect In CHRIST.

The Spirit of just men was made perfect,so then GOD IS not looking at the person's sin but their faith In CHRIST.

Men look at sin like this Is a big sin and that Is a small sin.
 

wattie

Senior Member
Feb 24, 2009
3,236
1,130
113
New Zealand
#4
Yeah.. as one person once said...

'Doing good works to try and get to heaven is like spraying perfume on a corpse.'

If God did not forgive our sins when we believe.. we would be just walking dead.
 

Adstar

Senior Member
Jul 24, 2016
7,585
3,616
113
#5
God will not remember the sins of the saved..

Hebrews 8: KJV
10 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: {11} And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. {12} For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."

Thats clear enough for me.. :)
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
113
#6
What about the sin we intend to keep rather than give to Christ for forgiveness? Can we be forgiven of sin we intend to hold onto?
 

BillG

Senior Member
Feb 15, 2017
9,025
4,444
113
#7
God does not forget our sins.

He chooses to remember them no more.

In a sense he does not hold them against us any more as a result of our faith in Jesus.

For me this sets a bar as such.

We as people struggle when we remember those who have sinned against us and the sin that has offended us.

We need to be like God.

When someone sins against us we need forgive and having done that, when we remember that they sinned against us we need set that aside and put it away.

Remove it as far as the east is from the west.

Jesus intercedes for us in heaven so when satan is accusing us, pointing out our sins and frailties before God, just as he did with Job, Gos rejects that because our debt of sin was paid in full because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us.
 

SoulWeaver

Senior Member
Oct 25, 2014
4,889
2,534
113
#8
God does not forget our sins.

He chooses to remember them no more.

In a sense he does not hold them against us any more as a result of our faith in Jesus.

For me this sets a bar as such.

We as people struggle when we remember those who have sinned against us and the sin that has offended us.

We need to be like God.

When someone sins against us we need forgive and having done that, when we remember that they sinned against us we need set that aside and put it away.

Remove it as far as the east is from the west.

Jesus intercedes for us in heaven so when satan is accusing us, pointing out our sins and frailties before God, just as he did with Job, Gos rejects that because our debt of sin was paid in full because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us.
"Remembering sins" in the Bible is also defined as visiting them. Aka raining down judgment/punishment.

Hosea 8:13
...Now He will remember their iniquity, and punish them for their sins; They will return to Egypt.

Hosea 9:9
They have gone deep in depravity As in the days of Gibeah;
He will remember their iniquity, He will punish their sins.

1 Kings 17:18
So she said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!”

Revelation 16:19
...Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

Based on this, sins that are forgiven do not incur wrath/punishment of God, although we still reap what we sow.
 
Feb 28, 2016
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#9
ROMANS 6:1.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that Grace may abound?
2.
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
7.
For he that is dead is freed from sin.

we must ask ourselves daily, have we truly been called, chosen, elected,
and have we begun our brand-new-lives sin-free from our 'old-man'
and started our NEW-SINLESS lives in Jesus Christ???
as it is written:
1JOHN 2:6.
He that says he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked. =
'over-night'??? definitely NOT!
but definitely our FIRST PRIORITY should to be to walk in 'righteousness and Godliness',
and in the utmost respect for our Saviour's Sacrifice...
 

BillG

Senior Member
Feb 15, 2017
9,025
4,444
113
#10
"Remembering sins" in the Bible is also defined as visiting them. Aka raining down judgment/punishment.

Hosea 8:13
...Now He will remember their iniquity, and punish them for their sins; They will return to Egypt.

Hosea 9:9
They have gone deep in depravity As in the days of Gibeah;
He will remember their iniquity, He will punish their sins.

1 Kings 17:18
So she said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!”

Revelation 16:19
...Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

Based on this, sins that are forgiven do not incur wrath/punishment of God, although we still reap what we sow.
Interesting.

You post verses from the OT

And the one from revelations which relates to the OT, Babylon?

The point I was trying to make is that as a result of Jesus death and resurrection and placing our faith in him for forgiveness then he will m not hold our sins against us.

Yes I agree we will reap what we sow but our sins are not held against us.

Just like David?

He reaped what he had sown but still considered by God as a man after his own heart.
 

SoulWeaver

Senior Member
Oct 25, 2014
4,889
2,534
113
#11
Interesting.

You post verses from the OT

And the one from revelations which relates to the OT, Babylon?

The point I was trying to make is that as a result of Jesus death and resurrection and placing our faith in him for forgiveness then he will m not hold our sins against us.

Yes I agree we will reap what we sow but our sins are not held against us.

Just like David?

He reaped what he had sown but still considered by God as a man after his own heart.
Yes, 100% agree with all that. I just posted these verses to give Biblical context as to what "remembering sins" means in the Bible. It's God acting upon His wrath. "God is angry with the wicked every day". But righteousness of Jesus is imputed to us.
 

BillG

Senior Member
Feb 15, 2017
9,025
4,444
113
#12
ROMANS 6:1.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that Grace may abound?
2.
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
7.
For he that is dead is freed from sin.

we must ask ourselves daily, have we truly been called, chosen, elected,
and have we begun our brand-new-lives sin-free from our 'old-man'
and started our NEW-SINLESS lives in Jesus Christ???
as it is written:
1JOHN 2:6.
He that says he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked. =
'over-night'??? definitely NOT!
but definitely our FIRST PRIORITY should to be to walk in 'righteousness and Godliness',
and in the utmost respect for our Saviour's Sacrifice...
Sorry I don't agree with the above.

We should be thanking God he has called us and as a result want to live a new life.
The new life he has called us to.

We will not be sinless but will want to sin less.

Our old man has been crucified and we desire to walk as the new man.
 
Feb 28, 2016
11,311
2,974
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#13
BILLG,
really???
it looks like you are JUST 'agreeing with what we have said'...

is your 'issue' with that we have simply stated the Truth about -
'the called-chosen-elected', and that our behavior should always 'agree with His principles'???
or that we should have the 'utmost RESPECT for our Holy Saviour's Sacrifice'???

where are you disagreeing with us??
just curious here brother...
 

BillG

Senior Member
Feb 15, 2017
9,025
4,444
113
#14
Yes, 100% agree with all that. I just posted these verses to give Biblical context as to what "remembering sins" means in the Bible. It's God acting upon His wrath. "God is angry with the wicked every day". But righteousness of Jesus is imputed to us.
I find your post above a difficult concept to grasp.

Not saying it is wrong because it's in the Bible.

In my own mind I can't reconcile "For God so loved the world"

To then being angry with people who reject him.

Maybe a personal issue for me given my upbringing.

I look at this way.

On judgement day God will reject people who have not placed their faith in Jesus.
He exacts his justice.

In a sense "I offered salvation but you rejected it therefore you are guilty"

I'm not he is angry because his anger was satisfied on the cross. Therefore saddened to reject.

But as I said maybe my emotions are not aligned here.

Thanks for responding with your post thoughts.
 

BillG

Senior Member
Feb 15, 2017
9,025
4,444
113
#15
BILLG,
really???
it looks like you are JUST 'agreeing with what we have said'...

is your 'issue' with that we have simply stated the Truth about -
'the called-chosen-elected', and that our behavior should always 'agree with His principles'???
or that we should have the 'utmost RESPECT for our Holy Saviour's Sacrifice'???

where are you disagreeing with us??
just curious here brother...
Hi brother,

If I'm totally honest a looked at my response and wondered if I was not getting what you were saying and trying to convey and whether I should post my response.

Wish I had now.

My mindset went to "being sinless"

So I assumed you were saying we should be sinless as the elect. I saw that as the issue in my mind.

So I agree I have misunderstood what you were trying to say and for that I am sorry.

My desire is to just want to help people who come to Jesus to be released from their past in order to walk with him and become like him.
 

SoulWeaver

Senior Member
Oct 25, 2014
4,889
2,534
113
#16
I find your post above a difficult concept to grasp.

Not saying it is wrong because it's in the Bible.

In my own mind I can't reconcile "For God so loved the world"

To then being angry with people who reject him.

Maybe a personal issue for me given my upbringing.

I look at this way.

On judgement day God will reject people who have not placed their faith in Jesus.
He exacts his justice.

In a sense "I offered salvation but you rejected it therefore you are guilty"

I'm not he is angry because his anger was satisfied on the cross. Therefore saddened to reject.

But as I said maybe my emotions are not aligned here.

Thanks for responding with your post thoughts.
It does seem odd to attribute anger or hatred to God, indeed ("Esau I hated"). I've had similar thoughts like what you mention... Maybe what I will write here will bring comfort...

God is such a vast, impartial being, so I wouldn't equate our emotions with His, there is a certain likeness so we would be able to relate to God and have some basic understanding, yet His ways aren't ours.

What is really God's wrath? The irresistible weight of impending tempest as recompense for breaking God's golden principle, piling up upon the life of a sinner, is that not His wrath? Which I'd compare to a water piling up behind a dam (dam being God's longsuffering, God giving time for repentance) until "the iniquity is complete" and time for harvest is come, and then it pours out, this invisible cosmic kind of event can only be related to us adequately as "righteous anger" or "wrath of God pouring out". This reality of "waters" of God's judgments overwhelming and coming against our realm, also came to pass physically and globally through Flood event. But is there a human lowly type of wrath involved? I wouldn't think so, it's just God's zeal in executing justice. It's His pure nature to recompense whatever violates goodness. He does not anger or hate like a man.

Similarly, sinner despising the principles/Spirit of life can only be righteously recompensed with a like rejection from the unity in Him, worded as "I will spit you out of my mouth", which God recounts to us in a simple way, that even a man from 5000 years B.C. can easily understand: "Esau I hated". But there was not our lowly human type of hatred actually involved.
 
Feb 28, 2016
11,311
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#17
Hi brother,

If I'm totally honest a looked at my response and wondered if I was not getting what you were saying and trying to convey and whether I should post my response.

Wish I had now.

My mindset went to "being sinless"

So I assumed you were saying we should be sinless as the elect. I saw that as the issue in my mind.

So I agree I have misunderstood what you were trying to say and for that I am sorry.

My desire is to just want to help people who come to Jesus to be released from their past in order to walk with him and become like him.
============================
Love is sent!!!
:):)
 

BillG

Senior Member
Feb 15, 2017
9,025
4,444
113
#18
Which I'd compare to a water piling up behind a dam (dam being God's longsuffering, God giving time for repentance) until "the iniquity is complete" and time for harvest is come, and then it pours out, this invisible cosmic kind of event can only be related to us adequately as "righteous anger" or "wrath of God pouring out".
I have been trying to find this in Genesis and from my notes but can't seem to find it.

If memory serves me when God made his promise to Abraham concernig the land of Canaan he said it would not happen for about 400 years.

At that point their iniquity will be dealt with and the land would be occupied by Gods people.

So they had to repent but God knew they would not.

So their iniquity went before them?
 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,825
1,073
113
Oregon
cfbac.org
#19
.
What about the sin we intend to keep rather than give to Christ for
forgiveness? Can we be forgiven of sin we intend to hold onto?

In the early years of my conversion, it seemed to me that the passage below
contradicted what I had been taught about Jesus' crucifixion for every sin I
ever committed, every sin I'm committing now, and every sin that I'll
commit in the future.

1John 1:9 . . If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive
us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Why would I need forgiveness and purification for sins for which Jesus died
on the cross?

Gal 2:20 . . I am crucified with Christ

And not only that, but 2Cor 5:19 says that God isn't keeping a record of my
sins. So if there's nothing on the books being held against me; then how is
1John 1:9 even relevant?
_
 
Feb 28, 2016
11,311
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#20
ROMANS 3:25.
Whom God hath set forth to be a 'Propitiation' through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness
for the remission of sins that are (((past))), through the forbearance of God;
5:10.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more, being reconciled, we 'shall' be saved by His life.

His death is for our 'past-sins' - His Life as our Intercessor is for our sins that we commit,
after 'conversion' -
in the context of
1JOHN 1:9.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
as the Book of HEBREWS clearly states:
He is our (((High-Priest))), having compassion upon us, by sitting on the 'Right-Hand of God',
and (((continually interceding for us.)))...