‘Forgive and forget!’ how many times have we heard that phrase? It’s another one of those “the Bible says…” but, actually, if you were to research it you’d find that phrase isn’t in Scripture. Nowhere does the Bible command us to “forgive and forget” and nowhere does the Bible say that God “forgives and forgets.” Bc the reality is God cannot forget and realistically speaking – neither can we.
Do you know that the Bible actually says that God will “not remember our sins.” Sounds like the same thing to us but actually there’s a huge difference. The difference lies in the Hebrew vrs the English. For an English speaker remembering something or someone is only a mental activity. It’s related to memories and occurs only in the mind. But in the Hebrew it’s different.
The Hebrew word for “remember” -zakhar- isn’t only about the mental activity but emphasizes more any actions that occur bc of the remembering. In Scripture whenever you see God “remember” something or someone be prepared bc that means God is about to act in response to that memory. God remembered Noah and began drying up the flood waters. God remembered Hannah and Rachel and opened their wombs so they could get pregnant. When God remembers God acts.
When the Bible states that God will not remember our sins amazingly that means God willingly chooses NOT to take any actions towards us based on our sins. It is as if the sin never occurred. Not that He didn’t see it or knows about it, but in the way your Heavenly Father deals with you, in His thoughts and actions towards you – the sin is nonexistent to Him.
May we live in the freedom of this forgiveness and may it spur us on towards greater holiness. So great a salvation deserves so much greater a sacrifice than we can give but let us give one anyway! God has chosen to not remember our sins, we have been forgiven and adopted as sons and daughters of the Living God. Praise His Name.