Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Sin Remembered No More

"So she said to Elijah, ‘What have I to do with you, O Man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?’" (1 Kings 17:18).

"For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31:34, Hebrews 8:12).

Remembrance of sin can deeply plague those who feel unforgiven. Death especially serves as a crude reminder that things are not right with us or with our world. The widow with whom Elijah has been staying seems to have felt this way. In deep grief, she assigns the prophet with a sinister purpose—that he came to remind her of her sin.

Her question, however, is not one that she alone would ask throughout the centuries. Many feel it even if it is unspoken. Will God judge me? Does He love me? Can I please Him? How can I find peace with God? Can I be sure that I am going to Heaven? What can I do to erase the dark feelings, or the anger I have at Him at times? It is a question for all—have you come to me to bring my sins to remembrance?

Sin is transferred through the generations through our natures. We are born with an inclination to sin. Ever since Adam and Eve first sinned in the Garden of Eden, we have been cursed with spiritual and physical death. "Sin came into the world through one man, and his sin brought death with it. As a result, death has spread to the whole human race because everyone has sinned." (Romans 5:12,TEV)

Disobeying God brought the very first confrontation between God and sinful people. Knowing their sin, God came and spoke to the guilty pair. It was a terrible scene when God’s presence came into that garden. They tried to hide from God but could not. They were caught in their sin—sin that God did not forget but that He did bring to their remembrance. There were bitter consequences.

Blackened with sin, humans now knew God as their Judge. Laid bare before Him, the question could have been asked; the question that all of Adam’s posterity could ask—"Have you come to bring my sin to remembrance?"

The God who judges sin is also the God who can wipe it away. At a high price to Himself, God sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world. Through Jesus’ death on the cross our sins are transferred to Him. His righteousness is transferred to us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Each person must trust Jesus for that removal of sin. After this trust in placed in Him, God now forgets sin based on what Jesus did.

"Have you come to bring my sins to remembrance?" No. Through Jesus Christ "I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more."