The girl with the bag was with her dad this weekend, and wasn't at church. For this week we did a recap of last week. We talked about sin again, how it can get out of control and take over if we get complacent. We talked about how when we get rid of it we have to get rid of all of it, we have to pull out the roots.
The Bible says in 1 John 1.9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." God forgives us, God also forgets our sins. Hebrews 8.12, "For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." And again in Hebrews 10.17, "And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
When we confess we are forgiven, and God forgets our sin. He doesn't hold it against us, He doesn't store it away in His mind to bring up later to get something out of us. He forgives and He forgets. There is incredible freedom in that.
Isaiah 54.4, "Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; and do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; but you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more."
God forgets our sin, and He desires that we do as well. There are lessons that come with the choices we make, those we don't forget. There may be scars that come from our choices, and those scars remind us of what we have done. But scars don't hurt, they are signs of healing. God is the one who brings healing.
Don't let the sins you've confessed hold you in the bondage of guilt and shame. We haven't be blessed with the ability to forget that God has, but we have been blessed with freedom from God. Rejoice in that freedom, live in that freedom. Don't use it as an opportunity to sin more, but live it for Christ as Paul said in Romans 6.1-14.
We have died to sin and have been raised to new life in Christ. We carry the scars as Christ does, but sin no longer holds us to the cross. We have emerged from the tomb with new life in Christ. Live this new life for Christ.
Peace be with you
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