Does God REALLY Forget Our Sins?

May 24, 2008 @ 11:00 pm by Pressed

I keep driving by a local church that has one of those silly sayings on their church sign. Even though I’ve read it about five times now I still can’t quite remember it word for word, but the gist of the message is that God forgets our sins. This also reminds me of a certain Krystal Meyers song called “Beauty of Grace”. While it is a catchy little tune, there is one line in the song that says “the mistakes you’ve made…forgiven, the memories erased.” Without much serious study on the subject, I’m going to go ahead and say that this is a bit of stretch and maybe even an abuse of Scripture.

This subject is not really new to me because I remember being taught in Sunday School the same concept. When I was younger I was taught that God forgets our sins. We often hold on to our own sins, but God forgets them. So according to this Sunday school teacher, when we go to God with a sin we’ve already committed and God has already forgiven, we might say “God forgive us of our sin” and God will say “What sin?” cause he doesn’t remember it. It’s erased, as if it never happened.

The Scripture verse this concept is coming from is found in Jeremiah 31:2434 which says “No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Ok, so the Bible does actually say God forgives sin and remembers it no more. But does this really mean that the all-knowing God actually forgets? Or, does it mean that God no longer holds the sin against us? Does it mean that he makes the choice to no longer remember it as something that is held against us or does it actually get erased from his memory where He no longer remembers that we’ve ever sinned?

Again, without an extensive study on this verse or the concept, I’d have to say that common sense seems to point to the fact that the memory of sin isn’t actually erased from God’s memory, but is instead erased from the list of things that point to our guilt. If you think of it like a court case, sometimes evidence is thrown out. If evidence isn’t collected correctly or if it isn’t presented in a case using the correct procedures then the Judge can throw the evidence out. It doesn’t make the evidence cease to exist, it just can no longer be presented in the case against the defendant.

I guess I may be out on a limb here, but I fail to understand the reason to perpetuate false ideas. While it is true that “in a way” God sort of forgets by no longer holding the sin against us, in reality he doesn’t reformat his hard drive. Why can’t we just say it like it is?

I understand that the idea is to be able to say to someone, “God forgets your sins, so you shouldn’t feel guilty anymore” but I’m not sure if that is such good advice in the first place. First of all God doesn’t forget, he forgives and in the same way we will never forget. Certainly we should rejoice in God’s forgiveness and we shouldn’t be crushed by the guilt of forgiven sin, but it should be something we never forget.

I say all of that to say the sign in town bothers me and so does Krystal Myers song.

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The Face Plant

May 14, 2008 @ 9:15 am by Pressed

We are entering a period in the life of our son that is quite unnerving. He’s trying to crawl and walk. He wants to go, but he just can’t. Add that to the fact that he is completely 100% fearless then you have a problem. He will roll off chairs, couches, beds, and anything else high and he does it in seconds. The other day we were sitting on the couch and Josiah was in my lap. He literally stood up and jumped out of my lap, in the air, and landed face first on the pillows next to me. If he sees something he wants, like mommies car keys, then he will do whatever is necessary to get them.

He had his first serious face plant a couple days ago. I wasn’t around for this little episode, but I certainly saw the results. He was sitting in a chair (which probably wasn’t a good idea in the first place given his ability to leap off off of things in seconds) and he rolled off hitting the floor face first. He scraped his forehead in two or three places and I guess his face hit the chair on the way down too, cause he really scraped his nose something awful. He had a deep, dark bruise on his eye and a scrape on his eyelid. He looks like he just got through with a boxing match.

I’m sure this is just the first of many scrapes, bumps, and bruises as he toddles around in this world. Scary…

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Don’t Discredit Your Integrity

February 8, 2008 @ 10:49 am by Pressed

The wisdom literature in the first part of Proverbs is wisdom of a father passed down to his son to teach him how to live. In my reading this morning I read Proverbs 1:8-9. The main point of the passage is to not follow sinners or the path of sinners because their path is one of greed and destruction. Basically, don’t fall into the temptation of following the crowd. Don’t let others provoke you into doing things that do not honor God. Instead of following the crowd we need to be examples to the crowd showing them a better way to live. To join others in their folly is essentially our approval of their actions. It also discredits our integrity. How often do we discredit our integrity by following the ways of the world rather than the ways of God?

Don’t be greedy for unjust gain. This could refer to several things. Whether it is physical gain or seeking the approval of others it is seeking selfish gain and considered an ungodly way to live.

(this message was created and posted via the iPhone)

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New Year’s Resolution Junk

January 16, 2008 @ 7:24 am by JD

I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions.  As a matter of fact, I think that for the most part, they’re stupid.  Why can’t people who want to make changes in their life just do it?  Why do we feel that a new year means an opportunity for a new start?  Does a person have to have a new year to attempt to make changes in their life?  It doesn’t make sense to me.

 With that being said, I’ve made a New Year’s resolution for myself.  My goal for this year (and every year thereafter) is to read 3 books per month.  This action was primarily inspired by the writers strike that is plaguing Hollywood and television right now.  With nothing to watch, I figured it was a good opportunity to pick up on my reading.  Here’s two of the books that I’ve knocked out for January:

For awhile, I wasn’t sure about this book but ended up really liking it by the time I had finished.  Co-written by David Crowder (yes, the same one) and David Hogan, it has a very relaxed writing style that appealed to me.  The book approaches the subject of death from a variety of different angles that keep the book from getting into a rut.  At one moment, your reading about the history of bluegrass and the next, you’re reading an IM conversation just before delving into a three-in-one story that moves all over the place……literally (just get the book; you’ll see what I mean).

 The other one that I’ve read this month (and that I absolutely adored) was Mark Driscoll’s Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons From An Emerging Missional Church.  Warning: don’t read this book if you’re easily offended.  Mark Driscoll is the preaching pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.  It is a rapidly growing church that is doing some great things in one of the least churched cities in the U.S.  Confessionstakes you through all of the stuggles and triumphs that Driscoll went through as Mars Hill grew.  Anyone who is familiar with Driscoll’s style knows that he says what he thinks and lays it out in a very raw and unapologetic fashion…….which fits my style.  Here’s an excerpt:

Scrambling for ideas, I agreed to cancel a Sunday church service to let some of our long-haired public radio types take us outside to do a joint art project they had proposed….As a truck-driving jock who watches a lot of Ultimate Fighting, I can honestly say it was the gayest thing I have ever been a part of.

A few other favorite parts of the book included an incident where a guy called him at 2:00 a.m. because he felt guilty for having just watched a porn and acted on it and another time where he gathered all of the men in the church together to give them a crash course in what it means (and what it doesn’t mean) to be a man.

I highly recommend this one, but like I said, not if you’re easily offended.

I have a Piper book on the burner ready to tackle next, but after that, I’m not sure but I’m open to suggestions (but please refrain from suggesting anything from Joel Osteen or the Left Behind series in that it could get you slapped).

JD

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“Laziness Leads To Ignorance, Ignorance Leads To Compromise”

January 2, 2008 @ 8:57 am by Pressed

While reading Proverbs chapter 1 this morning I was reminded that wisdom, knowledge and instruction are essential elements to my personal spiritual life. Only the foolish person hates wisdom and correction. There are those who are too prideful to admit their own limited understanding, failure, and inexperience. Because of this they grow stagnant in their own grandiloquence and do not grow in the knowledge or love of God. The Christian should love instruction and gain understanding. By seeking out the instruction of the wise and by following after wisdom and understanding, we will discover a better way to live. Life can only be lived to the fullest by those who have a proper knowledge of the mystery of God and the willpower to put said knowledge into action. We need to continue to learn and to train ourselves, continually digging into the mysteries of God and the power of his Word. Christians become lazy. Laziness leads to ignorance which often leads to compromise. Do not grow weary in seeking God. I often pray that God would give me a thirst for his word and a passion and desire to live out the truth of his commands.

I also read Psalm 1:1-6 this morning that ended up relating to Proverbs 1. The Psalmist reveals the way of the righteous man as being a way that is directed by the wisdom and knowledge that comes from taking delight in the Word of God. The way of the righteous man is one of Godly wisdom. The righteous man does not seek advice from the wicked, rather his wisdom comes from his delight and study of the Word of God. The way of the wicked will perish and thus any advice from them will be in vain.

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