Psalm 130: verses 3-4 (NIV)
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
Romans chapter 6: verses 1-4 (NIV)
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Hebrews Chapter 8: verse 12 (NIV)
For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.
God wipes the slate clean when we come to Him, accepting the work of Jesus with genuine repentance in our hearts. He never says “remember when?” when it comes to forgiven sins, otherwise as the psalmist said, we would never be able to stand. But we are set free from our sin for a purpose. The Psalmist goes on to say that we are therefore to serve God with reverence. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us of the promise that God gave to Jeremiah, even at a time when Israel was far from God. Paul reinforces in his teaching to the church in Rome how much we have been forgiven and how we should live in that forgiveness. We are not free to do as we please so that we can continually receive God’s grace. We are to serve God with thankful and grateful hearts.
If our hearts are truly thankful for all that God has done for us, then we in our turn are more likely to offer forgiveness to those who have wronged or hurt us, and we too, in doing that, must wipe the slate clean. If God remembers our sins no more, then as Ambassadors of Christ we must do the same, both for our own sins, and for those of others. Thankfulness and reverence to God for all that we have received makes that possible.
Dear Lord,
May I always have a grateful heart that appreciates all You have done and all I have received, that will be rightly willing to serve You and be obedient from that place of gratitude. And may I never remind anyone else of their forgiven sins. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.