Does God literally forget our sins?

Does God literally forget our sins?

?

Can God literally not remember our sins?

God says in

Hebrews 10:17 KJV

"And their sins and iniquities

will I remember no more."

Is that literal?

On this page

we will examine that topic.

A related verse is

Psalm 103:12

which says,

"As far as the east is from the west,

so far

hath he removed our transgressions from us."

As we begin,

let's add the words in red for clarification.

After we repent and give our life to Jesus,

God

does not remember our sins

and he

puts our sins as far as the east is from the west.

-

Can God literally not remember?

Answer:

No

No -

those verses

do not mean

that God literally cannot remember them. 

(I will give you reasons further down.)

What those verses mean

is

that

God does not remember our sins when it comes to 

judgment.

Some people incorrectly teach

that God

literally

cannot remember our sins.

Next,

I will explain

why

that interpretation is

incorrect.

Reasons

Number 1

If that interpretation were so, then God could never help us

with our addictions and other repeated sin patterns.

Number 2

If that interpretation were so, then God wouldn't be God.

He wouldn't KNOW everything.

Note:

The first rule in Bible interpretation

is

that a

Scripture verse cannot contradict another Scripture verse.

So if you think 2 verses contradict - look closer at the 2 verses.

In this case  -

thinking that

God literally cannot remember our sins

contradicts

Bible verses that say God is ALL - Knowing.

Number 3

If that interpretation were so,

then you could remember things that God couldn't.

You would know MORE than God.

Number 4

If that interpretation were so,

then God could not know

all your thoughts.

(Psalm 139 says he knows ALL our thoughts.)

So...

if God literally could not remember your sins,

then

when YOU think about your past sins,

God couldn't hear those thoughts.

And on and on.

What this verse means

is

that

God

does not set

our sins

before his eyes

in

judgment

if

we have repented of our sins to him.

~ ~ ~

Repentance brings peace with God.

It sometimes FEELS good to believe a lie.

It might FEEL good

and

it might take away some of our feelings of shame

when

we think that

God is not able to literally remember our past sins. 

But

when we embrace a lie,

we receive

hindrances and consequences.

Actually,

God remembering our sins is GREAT NEWS.

It means you can be completely comfortable with God. 

I explain below.

Think of it this way,

God knows ALL your sins

past - present - future

and yet

he still loves you enormously

and he still

calls out to you for a closer relationship with you.

You can be

totally comfortable with God.

God knows ALL about you.

And

he still loves you TOTALLY and COMPLETELY.

Just because

God is aware of

our past, present, and future sins

does not mean that

we should neglect to

ask forgiveness from God when we sin.

Our unrepented sins create negative consequences.

Next,

I explain the consequences.

Harboring unrepented sins

create a form of distance from God.

Once we have given our life to Jesus,

we are solid in God's hands.

That being said.....

it is still important for us to consider the following....

When we sin yet avoid repentance,

we experience

a lack of intimacy with God.

Our unrepentant sins

cause us

 - consciously or unconsciously - 

to want to

create distance between ourselves and God.

Unrepentant sins

lead us

to unconsciously harden our heart.

Repentance is designed

to

cleanse us from 

sin

AND

to

remove

the feelings of  guilt and shame.

Repentance

takes away all aspects of separation with God.

Repentance

breaks down hindrances to intimacy with God.

Note:

Satan tries to place the guilt and shame back on us.

Satan tries to say God doesn't love us.

Satan lies!

For tips to overcome lies see our pages

Shield of Faith tips

Take every thought captive

Now - Let's Continue with this Page

Repentance

allows God to

wash us

so that we can feel clean and refreshed and ready to

walk unified with God again.

I like to think of it as -  I can now feel the desire to approach God like a child who wants to snuggle with her parent.

Unrepentant sins cause us to want to avoid God.

Unrepentant sins

causes us to be

more easily drawn into new sins.

God's ways are best.

God perfectly knows

our mind, our emotions, our will, and our body.

God knows that

our body

and our soul

(our soul is our mind, will, and emotions)

work best

when we follow God's will and ways.

And when we sin...

God's solution is given to us in 1 John 1:9.

1 John 1:9

is our BEST blessing from God!

 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1John 1:9

The page "Does God literally forget our sins" was presented in April 2024.

"Does God literally forget our sins" page has 2 Scriptures highlighted...

Hebrews 10:17

Psalm 103:12