Growing with God: A daily devotional with Tonia Slimm.
Jeremiah 31:34b (NIV)
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Jeremiah 31:34b (MSG)
“I’ll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I’ll forget they ever sinned!” God’s Decree.”
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“For I will forgive their wickedness, and I will no longer remember their sin.” -AMPLIFIED
“If God has pardoned your sins, you will be sure to know him; there will be no mistake about that point. Men shrink back, and hide away from an angry God punishing sin, for they do not care to know him; but when he comes forth, dressed in the silken robes of love, to bestow free pardons upon the chief of sinners, then they know him. God grant that all of us may have this blessed knowledge!” ~Charles Spurgeon
One day, the Lord says, every person of Israel will know Him. Not just know about Him, but know Him personally. This is His promise:
“No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration.” -Jeremiah 31:34a (CSB)
And this will come about because, God in His infinite mercy will forgive and forget the sins of the people. The crux of the New Covenant, the main reason for it, its basis and purpose was/is forgiveness. And not just forgiveness and pardon, but a wiping of the slate clean, a cleansing of the heart. Adonai declares:
“I will be merciful when they fail and forgive their wrongs. I will never call to mind or mention their sins again.” -(VOICE)
The Lord reminds the people of Israel that He is merciful, forgiving, and loving. Under this New Covenant He will demonstrate His mercy, forgiveness, and the fact that He keeps no record of wrongs. Once He has forgiven something, He will forget it. It will no longer be held against the perpetrator.
David reminds us that thankfully God does not give us what we deserve but instead offers us mercy and forgiveness. David writes:
“Thankfully, God does not punish us for our sins and depravity as we deserve. In His mercy, He tempers justice with peace. Measure how high heaven is above the earth; God’s wide, loving, kind heart is greater for those who revere Him. You see, God takes all our crimes—our seemingly inexhaustible sins—and removes them. As far as east is from the west, He removes them from us. An earthly father expresses love for his children; it is no different with our heavenly Father; the Eternal shows His love for those who revere Him. For He knows what we are made of; He knows our frame is frail, and He remembers we came from dust.” -Psalm 103:10-14 (VOICE)
May we never underestimate the mercy of God! For out of His great mercy and grace, He saw the hopeless position that man was in, and He took the imitative to make it possible for us to make our way back to Him. Consider something that Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
“As for you, don’t you remember how you used to just exist? Corpses, dead in life, buried by transgressions, wandering the course of this perverse world. You were the offspring of the prince of the power of air—oh, how he owned you, just as he still controls those living in disobedience. I’m not talking about the outsiders alone; we were all guilty of falling headlong for the persuasive passions of this world; we all have had our fill of indulging the flesh and mind, obeying impulses to follow perverse thoughts motivated by dark powers. As a result, our natural inclinations led us to be children of wrath, just like the rest of humankind. But God, with the unfathomable richness of His love and mercy focused on us, united us with the Anointed One and infused our lifeless souls with life—even though we were buried under mountains of sin—and saved us by His grace. He raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavenly realms with our beloved Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King. He did this for a reason: so that for all eternity we will stand as a living testimony to the incredible riches of His grace and kindness that He freely gives to us by uniting us with Jesus the Anointed. For it’s by God’s grace that you have been saved. You receive it through faith. It was not our plan or our effort. It is God’s gift, pure and simple. You didn’t earn it, not one of us did, so don’t go around bragging that you must have done something amazing. For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago.” -Ephesians 2:1-10 (VOICE)
“… and I will forgive and forget their sins.” -(TLB)
“The new covenant brings true cleansing from sin. The sacrificial system under the old covenant could only cover sin and its guilt; the new covenant brings forgiveness so complete that it could be said that God no longer remembers the sin of those connected to Him through the new covenant.” ~David Guzik
What does Scripture teach us about God’s forgiveness?
1.) It is done out of mercy. When God forgives us of our sin, He not only forgives, but He forgets those sins. “I will be merciful when they fail, and I will erase their sins and wicked acts out of My memory as though they had never existed.” -Hebrews 8:12 (VOICE)
2.) It is a demonstration of God’s restoration power. God paid for our forgiveness through the death of His Son. “When God set Him up to be the sacrifice—the seat of mercy where sins are atoned through faith—His blood became the demonstration of God’s own restorative justice. All of this confirms His faithfulness to the promise, for over the course of human history God patiently held back as He dealt with the sins being committed. This expression of God’s restorative justice displays in the present that He is just and righteous and that He makes right those who trust and commit themselves to Jesus.” -Romans 3:25-26 (VOICE)
3.) It reveals God’s great love for us. “But think about this: while we were wasting our lives in sin, God revealed His powerful love to us in a tangible display—the Anointed One died for us.” -Romans 5:8 (VOICE)
4.) It is a gift to us from God. “For it’s by God’s grace that you have been saved. You receive it through faith. It was not our plan or our effort. It is God’s gift, pure and simple. You didn’t earn it, not one of us did, so don’t go around bragging that you must have done something amazing.” -Ephesians 2:8-9 (VOICE)
5.) It is healing. “O my soul, come, praise the Eternal; sing a song from a grateful heart; sing and never forget all the good He has done. Despite all your many offenses, He forgives and releases you. More than any doctor, He heals your diseases. He reaches deep into the pit to deliver you from death. He crowns you with unfailing love and compassion like a king.” -Psalm 103:2-4 (VOICE)
“When God forgives our sin, he is not changing his mind about us; he is changing our minds about him.” ~Herbert McCabe
My friend, God offers us forgiveness. If we accept His forgiveness, He does not hold our sins against us. In fact, He forgets them. He removes them as far as the East is from the West. He releases us from the judgement that we are due. He brings healing to our lives. Why? Because He is merciful, compassionate, loving, and He only wants what is best for us. Have you accepted His gift of forgiveness? I hope you have.
“When we stray from His presence, He longs for you to come back. He weeps that you are missing out on His love, protection and provision. He throws His arms open, runs toward you, gathers you up, and welcomes you home.” ~Charles Stanley
My Prayer:
Adonai Elohim, my Great Lord, my Heavenly Father, I am so grateful for your loving forgiveness. Your forgiveness keeps no record of my past wrongs. In fact, once I have asked for your forgiveness, you pardon my sins, you forget those sins, and you will never hold them against me again. Once I have sought your forgiveness, you restore me and welcome me home as the child that you always wanted me to be. I wonder why I resisted you for so long. I was a fool. Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you for caring so much. I am so thankful for your forgiveness, Lord. You are so good to me. I am blessed! ❤
Growing with God 