Does God forget my sins when he forgives my sins? Aren’t we supposed to “forgive and forget?” After all, the Bible clearly states “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25). And, Jeremiah exclaims “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).
But wait a minute! I thought God was omniscient! How can a being who knows all things forget anything and remain all-knowing? Perhaps the notion that God forgets our sins is not a cognitive act at all but a behavioral one. For instance, consider 1 Samuel 1:19-20 where God “remembered” Hannah and opened her womb so she could conceive. It’s not as though the Lord said, “Oops! Hannah, I’m so sorry I forgot about you. I’ve been so busy with other things, it just slipped my mind.” Rather, based upon her prayer to bear children, God DID something on Hannah’s behalf.
Or, consider how we use the word “remember” when I ask you to “remember someone in prayer.” It’s not as though I’m asking you to literally recall them to mind because you have forgotten them. I am, however, asking you to DO something on their behalf; in this instance pray for them. Likewise, God does not, and in fact cannot, forget our sins, but he graciously chooses not to hold them against us.
It may be psychologically attractive to believe that God “forgives and forgets,” but it’s not theologically accurate or biblically responsible. What should make me feel good is that God can know my every sin for eternity and still choose to grant me forgiveness! This is the God of Scripture and this is the God we love and worship. Only a God who is eternally gracious yet eternally mindful of my sin can eternally forgive but not forget.
Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.
Psalm 25:6-7
Sola gratia, Soli Deo gloria!
Dear Paul,
Pretty good article. This statement that “God forgets sin” needs to be put to rest, permanently.
First, to say that “God forgets” is to ascribe to God a human frailty, better yet, a sin. God cannot sin (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18; Numbers 23:19) nor does He have the human frailty of forgetfulness.
Second, God is omniscient as you stated above. He cannot forget. God makes a conscious decision of the will, “to not remember our sin.” You quoted Isaiah above. Jeremiah 31:34 is quite clear, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” This quote is from the passage on the New Covenant. Thus, in Christ is the forgiveness of sins without having it brought back up into our faces.
The problem lies in not that forgiveness is granted; it is on the consequences of the action or non-action. Moses was forgiven when he struck the rock instead of speaking to the rock in Numbers. David was forgiven the sin with Bathsheba, but the “sword did not part from his house.” In Christ, it is the final consequence that has been defeated, i.e. death.