The Forgetful God

Jonathan Landon

Central Truth

Jesus secures our redemption and makes an impossibility a reality: our sins are forgiven and forgotten forever.

"For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more."

Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant

1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent^{1

8:2
Or tabernacle; also verse 5} that the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ^{2

8:6
Greek he} has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

8 For he finds fault with them when he says:^{3

8:8
Some manuscripts For finding fault with it he says to them}

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
    when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
    and with the house of Judah,
9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
    on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant,
    and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
    after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
    and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
    and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
    and I will remember their sins no more.”

13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Footnotes

[1] 8:2 Or tabernacle; also verse 5
[2] 8:6 Greek he
[3] 8:8 Some manuscripts For finding fault with it he says to them

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Do you ever feel as though God has forgotten you? Perhaps you're enduring a painful season of suffering right now, intimately familiar with the psalmist's cry: "Will you forget me forever?" (Psalm 13:1) Maybe current or past sins have you convinced that God has undoubtedly moved on from you by now. But if you have trusted in Jesus, He only forgets one thing: your sin.

He who has nothing hidden from His sight (Hebrews 4:13) no longer sees our sin.

He who remembers things from long ago (Isaiah 46:9) doesn't remember the sins we committed yesterday.

He who numbers the stars (Psalm 147:4) no longer keeps a record of our sins.

God's forgetfulness of sin isn't a matter of His being incapable of remembering. Rather, it is due to His refusal to remember our sins.

The sacrificial system of the Old Covenant served as a copy and shadow of the New Covenant that Jesus established. Under that old system, there was a reminder of sins every year since the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins (Hebrews 10:3-4). Where sin remains unforgiven, it cannot be forgotten.

But everything changed when Jesus arrived. Our holy, innocent, unstained, and exalted High Priest offered up Himself on the cross, once for all time, to put away sin and secure the redemption of all who trust in Him (Hebrews 7:26-27; 9:12, 26).

Have you trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins? If the answer is yes, consider what He has done with your sin:

He canceled your record of debt (Colossians 2:13-14);
He covered your sins (Psalm 32:1);
He removed your sins from you as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12);
He flung your sins behind his back (Isaiah 38:17);
He trampled your sins underfoot and cast every single one of them into the depths of the ocean (Micah 7:19).

This is good news! There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Thanks be to God that He has promised to remember our sins no more.

1. If God has forgiven all our sins (past/present/future), why is it still necessary to confess our sins regularly?

2. Are there any sins you've confessed to God, but just can't bring yourself to confess to another brother or sister? Consider this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together:

"Why is it that it is often easier for us to confess our sins to God than to a brother? . . . [W]e must ask ourselves whether we have not often been deceiving ourselves with our confession of sin to God, whether we have not rather been confessing our sins to ourselves and also granting ourselves absolution. . . . Who can give us the certainty that, in the confession and the forgiveness of our sins, we are not dealing with ourselves but with the living God? God gives us this certainty through our brother. Our brother breaks the circle of self-deception. A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with himself; he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other person."

One of the greatest reminders of God's forgiveness is found in confessing our sins to one another. God gives us brothers and sisters who will listen to our confession, look us in the eye, and tell us that we are completely forgiven. Have you experienced this blessing? How will you step out in faith to live authentically in this way today?

3. I love this quote from Corrie ten Boom: "When we confess our sins, God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever. Then God places a sign out there that says 'No Fishing Allowed.'" After we confess our sins, it's often still difficult to feel forgiven. What Scripture can you use to inform and align your feelings with the truth?