Haunting sin? God doesn't even remember it

Here’s a really good outtake from my church’s Sunday morning service yesterday:

Psalm 103: [10] He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
[11] For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
[12] As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

You know how far the east is from the west? If you go south far enough, you’ll start going north, but if you start going west, you’ll never go east, explains Richard Jordan.

North and south meet, but east and west never meet. If you go east, you’ll never, ever go west. If you go west, you’ll never go east.

They never meet! That’s how far God has removed our sins from us, according to David. Paul writes in Romans 4: [6] Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
[7] Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
[8] Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

You see, the forgiveness is total; it’s complete and you never meet them again. Now you don’t do that, do you? They haunt you, because in your mind you bring those things up. You bring up your failures, the cross words you spoke, the bad attitudes you had, the actions you took that you shouldn’t have, and they can come back from years ago.

They’re there because they’re saying, “Hey, remember this?” Your conscience, your memory is sort of like a picture gallery. You go along and you’ll paint a picture, and it will be a real detailed picture, and you’ll hang it up. You craft your sin, your attitudes, your words, your actions—and then you’ll hang it in the gallery of your memory.

Then you walk on down and you hang another one there and every now and then your conscience will walk through that gallery and it will turn the light on a particular one. You know what God did? He didn’t turn the light out; He took the picture down. He doesn’t remember.

Now, that’s God’s attitude. It’s not just David’s. I’m using Old Testament examples so you understand this is something that didn’t just show up with Paul. This has been God’s attitude on these things all along. We now can understand how He can do it through the blood of Christ, but this has always been God’s promise.

Isaiah 38:17: [17] Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

Hezekiah’s saying, “I got right down in the pit of misery and conviction from my failures.” You delivered me. How? “For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”

If you turn your back to somebody, can you see them? You’re looking at something else. God took your sin and cast them behind His back. He ain’t looking at them. That’s a pretty good deal, because He’s the Creator.

Isaiah 43:25: [25] I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

“They ain’t there anymore; I’ve removed them from the record.” God Himself is determined not to remember your sins. You see how that word remember is “re” plus “member”? He’s never going to connect your sins to you again. You’re free!

Micah 7: [18] Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
[19] He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

You ever been out on a boat and thrown something overboard? Dude, it’s gone. When I was young, I was out fishing on the river with my dad and he got out at the bank while I stayed in the boat waiting. I started playing with his fishing pliers and accidentally dropped them into the water. I saw them sinking and reached down into the water as far as I could to try and grab them but, you know what, they were gone forever.

God says, “You know what I’ve done with your sins? I’ve cast them into the sea.” I couldn’t get those pliers back. God said, “I can’t get your sins back.” That’s what David says.

He’s forgiven your iniquity; He’s covered your sins. He’s put them under the blood; taken them away and He will not impute them to your account because He’s given you His righteousness through the blood of Jesus Christ. That’s the extent, and he says, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

That ought to thrill your soul. Take you out from under the cloud of your own failure and set you under the sunlight of God’s grace. Absolute, complete, total forgiveness; absolute, complete, irrevocable righteousness of God in Christ.