Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — 4.1MB)
Are you enjoying your forgiveness? When the enemy of our soul can’t keep us from confessing our sins to our forgiving God, he’ll try to keep us from enjoying the truth that when God forgives us, he remembers it against us no more.
But of course, in order to do that, you have to confess whatever sin is in your life, forsake it, and ask God to forgive you. And the good news is he is always willing to forgive us. 1 John 1:9 makes that very clear. It says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
I believe a Christian who is refusing to confess known sin and keeps hanging on—even if it seems small and not important—is more miserable than a person who is not a follower of Jesus Christ and indulging in the same sin. It’s the Holy Spirit within us that becomes very uncomfortable—or offended or grieved—when we harbor unconfessed sin.
The first thing is to make sure you have confessed your sin, turned from it, and you know God has forgiven you. Make sure of that. But maybe you’re thinking that you have done that, and yet, you keep asking God again and again to forgive you for what he has already forgiven. Does that describe you?
If so, I would remind you God has chosen to remember your sins no more once they are forgiven and forsaken. Therefore, who are you to keep bringing them up, living in regret, and refusing to enjoy the forgiveness you have received?
I understand God is probably the only one who can truly erase his memory if he chooses to. You and I in these earthly bodies with our sin natures, we just don’t have that miraculous power to totally forget. I get that.
But we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, so it is possible to enjoy your forgiveness instead of letting your past hang over you like a dark cloud, robbing you of peace and joy.