Forgiveness Goes On and On

“He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust”

Psalm 103:12-14


I read a quote I really like because it reminds me of how great the forgiveness of God truly is and as soon as I read it, Psalm 103 came to mind. The quote I am referring goes like this, “the sin you cannot forget God doesn’t remember” and with regard to God remembering our sin that is true as His word declares He remembers it no more! 1 John 1:9 in the New Testament tells us, “If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God does exceedingly abundantly above all that we think or ask.

Not many people understand how encouraging Psalm 103:12-14 was intended to be because you have to know a little something about a compass to fully appreciate it. If you use a compass and go north when you reach the North Pole the needle will eventually begin to move and start to point south as you move away from the north poles magnetic field whereas if you go east you can go all the way around the world without the compass ever moving to indicate you are going west because a compass is directed or pulled by the magnetic fields of the north and south poles. There is no polarization when traveling east or west and that is the whole point. Its virtually impossible to tell the separation from the east and west and thats exactly what God wants you to understand about His forgiveness.

God forgives our sin as far as the east is from the west as to mean when God forgives you it will be impossible for you to ever find your sin again. You could go east and keep on going and going and going never finding west on the compass and the same is true if you went west. You could circle the globe without ever knowing you went east. And not only can you not find it, the psalmist reminds us God forgets it and remembers it no more. Thats so important to know. God forgives and He forgets. It’s a package deal.

People ask me “how can God being God ever forget anything?” After all He is God and He is perfect. Maybe better stated is “He chooses not to remember.” Thats what love does. Oh it’s true God could remember our sin if He wanted too but He doesn’t so He won’t. Thats good news for you and me and makes sense then in 1 Corinthians 13 when the apostle Paul describes God’s agape love for us he tells us that “love keeps no record of wrong” and as hard as that is sometimes for you and me to believe its true.

Jesus shed His blood on Calvary’s Cross so that our sins could be forgiven and remembered no more. The Bible uses the term “justification” to describe our position in Christ Jesus. When we come to Christ and receive Him as Savior and Lord the bible says in that moment we are “justified”. The easiest explanation I can give you to what that term means for us is, “just as if you never sinned”. Jesus didn’t just die for our past sins and our present sins. Jesus died for our future sins too. God’s forgiveness is infinite. That’s why we can have bold confidence when we approach God because He sees us as if we have never sinned thanks to Jesus shed blood. God’s mercy and grace are amazing, and its no wonder then why Jesus would say,


“So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free”

John 8:36


I LOVE YOU!