Lots of Christians have the mistaken idea that when God forgives our sin, He forgets our sin. Now, this is obvious nonsense. An Omniscient Being cannot forget. He can't not know ... anything. So why would we think He forgets our sin?
In the Old Testament, there are lots of references to "forget." The word is shakach, and it means ... well ... to forget. But that word is not found in reference to God and our sin. The word in Hebrew for "remember" is zakar. It means to be mindful of ... to call to mind. And we're often called on to "remember" in that sense ... to call to mind ... God's compassion and blessings, His goodness and even God Himself. But in Jeremiah, God speaking, we read, "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know YHWH,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more" (Jer 31:34). There it is. Repeated in Hebrews 8:12, we have the promise that He will forget out sin. Or ... do we? Wouldn't that require that He cease to be Omniscient?
I've often been amused by the image of me, calling out to God, saying, "Forgive me for that sin," and Him saying, "What sin?" I'm amused because apparently I know things He doesn't. But I don't think that's true. There is certainly a connection to "forget" and "not remember." The dictionary gives as the first definition of "forget" as "to fail to remember." But I think there is a subtle notion here that shouldn't be missed. If God forgets, He cannot recall. But the text actually says ... He does not recall. He does not ... "call to mind." It's not that it's not stored. It's that He has set it aside, no longer to be considered. And that seems ... better than a forgetful God who just doesn't have the capacity ... like an aged relative on the edge of senility. No ... He doesn't forget. He knows everything. But He graciously refuses to call it to mind, and I'm grateful for that.
Just another example of the amazing grace of God, and what we are called to do with those that offend us and ask for forgiveness. Some things people do to us are so heinous that we could never forget, but if we forgive as we're commanded, like the 70 times 7, it's not that we actually forget the wrongs against us, but that we hold each wrong as separate from the last. We can forgive 70 times 7 because we are to treat each one as the first.
ReplyDeleteIf love "does not take into account a wrong suffered" (1 Cor 13:5), it would seem that "forgive" has to be mandatory if we are obeying the command to love. (In case that wasn't clear, i was adding to what you said, not detracting.)
DeleteThe difference between YHWH forgetting our sin, and choosing not to recall it is huge.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that the choice on God’s part to not bring our sins to mind is the very basis of our standing as forgiven sinners--i.e. fully guilty of inequity but declared to be fully righteous. Because of the Great Exchange achieved by the Lord Jesus Christ, God views me as if none of my offenses against Him ever occurred (“what sin?”)--not out of denial or lack of perfect omniscience, as you say, but in full cognizance of my pitiful state apart from His gracious forgiveness. What a loving Heavenly Father He is to know full well but to choose to “set it aside” nonetheless. “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” Truly.
ReplyDeleteHappy Blogiversary, Stan! Your readers are grateful for your 19 years of faithful and prolific blogging. Keep it up! “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Gal. 6:9).
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