Does God want us to forget our past sins?

[Eve211]

Hello,

In the bible there are a couple of verses that say that God does not remember our sin no more. Does this mean that after we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness we too should try to not remember our sin and forget them?

Thank you,

Eve

[Jayne]

That passage is from Isaiah 43.  "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins."

In the context of that verse, God was talking to his own people who had gone off the deep end of great sin.  After he tells them this, he tells them to come and state their case for defense of the sin....it won't work.

To me, God is saying, you CAN'T justify ANY of your sinful behavior - so repent and let me forgive you and I will remember your sin no more.

Yes, God puts confessed/forgiven sin away from his mind.  So should we.  Hanging on to old sins in our minds is not what God wants.  It's want the devil wants.

Let me give you an example.

About 30 years ago when I was in my late 20's, this young woman started coming to our church with one of the single guys there.  He flitted from girl to girl after his divorce, but that's another story.  This young woman about my age was not saved. She wanted to understand Christianity and happily came to church for a while.

She has sought after Buddhism and other false religions.  She was PRIME to accept Christ.

She kept coming for a month or two after they broke up.  One Sunday after church, she asked me to go to lunch with her.  I was at a very bad place in my life with crippling depression/anxiety that I struggled day by day to hide.  I blew her off and made an excuse.  In my depression and anxiety, I couldn't understand why such a cool, interesting, pretty, and nice girl would want to befriend me.

She was obviously a little hurt and gave an awkward "OK".

After a couple of months, she did not come to church anymore and I have know idea where she is or if she came to Christ.

God chastised me for that, telling me I missed a grand opportunity.

I spent a couple of decades SUPER guilty over it.  I had cried tears of repentance over that and I knew God had moved on.  But the devil wouldn't let me let it go.

I tormented myself over this for far too long.  When she comes to my mind now - I pray for her and her family.

You see what can happen if we hang on to guilt and the fear that always comes with guilt.  

Yes, sincerely repent of your sin - calling it BY NAME - calling it what it is to God in the Name of Jesus.  He will forgive and put it away from Himself forever.  

God moves on after sin is forgiven.  We should move on, too.

Edited August 29, 2020 by Jayne

[HAZARD]

58 minutes ago, Eve211 said:

Hello,

In the bible there are a couple of verses that say that God does not remember our sin no more. Does this mean that after we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness we too should try to not remember our sin and forget them?

Thank you,

Eve

Hi Eve.

Yes God wants us to forget our past sins as He has and move on. When Satan reminds us of our past, we should remind him of his future. Christ has the ultimate victory over sin, death, and Satan, and we have that victory also because Jesus has claimed us as His own.

[other one]

1 hour ago, Eve211 said:

Hello,

In the bible there are a couple of verses that say that God does not remember our sin no more. Does this mean that after we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness we too should try to not remember our sin and forget them?

Thank you,

Eve

I think I would put it as he's forgiven you and you should forgive yourself...   start anew and get on with life.   but we should not do those things again...  and if Jesus has promised to forgive and forget we should not keep reminding him of what we did.

[Who me]

10 hours ago, Eve211 said:

Hello,

In the bible there are a couple of verses that say that God does not remember our sin no more. Does this mean that after we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness we too should try to not remember our sin and forget them?

Thank you,

Eve

Why do you want to remember your forgiven sins?

If one keeps doing them, there is a lesson there to be learnt.

 

If one does keep rembering than and still feels guilty then one needs to start praising and thanking God for his forgiveness.

[Coliseum]

14 hours ago, Eve211 said:

Hello,

In the bible there are a couple of verses that say that God does not remember our sin no more. Does this mean that after we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness we too should try to not remember our sin and forget them?

Thank you,

Eve

Once (probably too many times to count), I was caught in the stranglehold of wanting to keep my sins alive. In fact, for twenty years I thought I would die; it didn't happen. And in doing so, I was living a terribly unproductive life for Jesus. When God tells us, "I have thrown your sins as far from the East is to the West, never to be remembered again. Even the guilt of your transgressions is removed," that is amazing. We do not even have to ever feel guilty about them again. When God says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," believe Him. He does not lie.

[Eve211]

On 8/28/2020 at 8:34 PM, Jayne said:

That passage is from Isaiah 43.  "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins."

In the context of that verse, God was talking to his own people who had gone off the deep end of great sin.  After he tells them this, he tells them to come and state their case for defense of the sin....it won't work.

To me, God is saying, you CAN'T justify ANY of your sinful behavior - so repent and let me forgive you and I will remember your sin no more.

Yes, God puts confessed/forgiven sin away from his mind.  So should we.  Hanging on to old sins in our minds is not what God wants.  It's want the devil wants.

Let me give you an example.

About 30 years ago when I was in my late 20's, this young woman started coming to our church with one of the single guys there.  He flitted from girl to girl after his divorce, but that's another story.  This young woman about my age was not saved. She wanted to understand Christianity and happily came to church for a while.

She has sought after Buddhism and other false religions.  She was PRIME to accept Christ.

She kept coming for a month or two after they broke up.  One Sunday after church, she asked me to go to lunch with her.  I was at a very bad place in my life with crippling depression/anxiety that I struggled day by day to hide.  I blew her off and made an excuse.  In my depression and anxiety, I couldn't understand why such a cool, interesting, pretty, and nice girl would want to befriend me.

She was obviously a little hurt and gave an awkward "OK".

After a couple of months, she did not come to church anymore and I have know idea where she is or if she came to Christ.

God chastised me for that, telling me I missed a grand opportunity.

I spent a couple of decades SUPER guilty over it.  I had cried tears of repentance over that and I knew God had moved on.  But the devil wouldn't let me let it go.

I tormented myself over this for far too long.  When she comes to my mind now - I pray for her and her family.

You see what can happen if we hang on to guilt and the fear that always comes with guilt.  

Yes, sincerely repent of your sin - calling it BY NAME - calling it what it is to God in the Name of Jesus.  He will forgive and put it away from Himself forever.  

God moves on after sin is forgiven.  We should move on, too.

Do we specifically have to call it by NAME? what if we don't specifically recall all of it or forget some??

Edited August 30, 2020 by Eve211

[Willa]

I used to kick myself for sinning after I had asked God to forgive me.  Then God spoke to my heart and asked me if I thought my passing judgement on myself was a higher court than His judgement.  What business did I have to condemn myself after He had pardoned me?  It really shamed me.  Then He told me that when I was down on myself and angry with myself that I was not able to be a blessing to my family.  In fact, I needed to ask Him to refill me with His Holy Spirit so that He could continue to use me.  

The bottom line is that we need to get over it and move on, walking in the Spirit.  Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

[Jayne]

47 minutes ago, Eve211 said:

Do we specifically have to call it by NAME? what if we don't specifically recall all of it or forget some??

It helps me to call my sin by name to God.  Scorn of others, bitterness, anger, rudeness, ..... it helps me remember the next time that I had taken this to God and to turn from it.

You can say a generic "forgive me of my sins" just like you can pray "God bless the missionaries today" - specifying, however, helps me.

We CANNOT remember every single sin we commit - that's impossible.