[This is part six of a deeper study of the article 6 Ways Christ was Better than the Law. To get better context and a link to the other parts, you can click there and read it first.]
I think I’ve heard the phrase “forgive and forget” all my life. I have heard it a number of times in church as if it is a Biblical principle we are supposed to be following. The Bible never really says we are supposed to forgive and forget in so many words, but it does talk about forgiveness a number of times. We are to:
- forgive so the Father will forgive us (Matthew 6:14)
- be kind tenderhearted and forgiving to one another just like we were through Christ (Ephesians 4:32)
- forgive unrepentant enemies (Matthew 5:44)
Jesus even used the parable of the unforgiving servant to teach us the lengths we are to go through to be forgiving. (Matthew 18:21-35)
The forgetting part just isn’t in our human nature though, is it? Remembering what someone did to us might be a way of gauging the amount of trust we can offer them. Even though we can carry on as if the sin against us never happened, the hurt it caused can often take a lifetime to heal.
Maybe the term “forgive and forget” came into use by people that were working hard to be like Christ. When Christ died on the cross, he sealed a new and better covenant for us. (Hebrews 7:24) This is a covenant that does not remember our sins once we repent. (Hebrews 8:12 quoting Jerimiah 31:34) Think for a moment how huge that is. God forgets a forgiven sin ever happened!
The marvelous thing about this covenant is that it was not given only to the Jews. It was given to all that get into Christ. (Galatians 3:29) Through our becoming a Christian, we are added to the rolls of Abraham’s children and become beneficiaries of God’s promise.
December 11, 2013
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