What does it mean that God remembers our sins no more?
When God says He will remember our sins no more, He is not forgetting the way we forget: He is promising never to call them to mind again, never to treat us according to them, and never to bring them up in judgment. The new covenant rests on that promise, and the cross is its price.
This question arose from studying What happens when I sin after I've come to Christ? and Why did Jesus have to die?.
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Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
'Not remember' is covenant language, not amnesia
The all-knowing God cannot forget facts. When He says 'their sin will I remember no more,' He means He will never again hold our sins against us or let them stand between us. To 'remember' sin in Scripture is to act on it in judgment; to not remember is to covenant never to act on it again.
and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
It is God's own oath about His own memory
Notice who makes this pledge: 'I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake.' The promise does not depend on how well we have repented or how clean our record has run since. It depends on God's character, which is why Micah can picture Him treading our iniquities underfoot and casting them into the depths of the sea.
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Hebrews reads it as final settlement
Hebrews quotes Jeremiah's promise twice and draws the conclusion: 'where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.' If God remembers sins no more, the ledger is closed; by one offering 'he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.' Forgiveness without recall is what the cross purchased.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more.”
“I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more.” Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
Removed as far as east from west
The psalmists reach for images of distance that cannot be crossed back: transgressions removed 'as far as the east is from the west,' sins cast behind God's back. East and west never meet on a traveler's map; that is the point. The debt is not filed away where we might dig it up again; it is gone from the account entirely, so that God charges with sin no more.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin.”
Reconciliation changes the conversation, not just the record
'God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses.' Because God does not reckon our trespasses, He deals with us as children rather than defendants: 'Like a father has compassion on his children, so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him.' Discipline may still come, but prosecution never will.
namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Like a father has compassion on his children, so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him.
As you read, you may wonder…
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Can I lose my salvation?→Our Walk with Him trail“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”How do I experience the love of God day to day?→God the Father trail“and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”What is the new heart that God promised?→Our Walk with Him trail“I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more.”
“I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more.” Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
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