Years ago I was teaching an adult class when someone who was visiting made an interesting observation about how the Lord's righteousness exceeds our own. He referred to the promise that the Lord made in Jeremiah 31:34 regarding the New Covenant. Under this covenant, the Lord promises those who are in a covenant relationship with Him “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (NKJV). The visitor in the class observed that while we may forgive a wrong done to us we seldom forget. God, on the other hand, in promising to forget our past sins, demonstrates just how far his righteousness surpasses our own (Romans 3:23).

     As I thought about this it occurred to me what a beautiful promise this really is. To imagine that somehow, those who come to God in faith and obedience through the blood of Jesus can stand before God a “new creation” for whom “old things have passed away” and “all things have become new” (II Corinthians 5:17), means that not only has the Lord “blotted out” (Psalm 51:1) the sins which once stained our spiritual account, but God has forgotten that they ever did so. To the Christian who abides in Christ, faithfully calling upon Jesus as their Advocate, there is a continuing state of spiritual innocence as they stand before God with their sins wiped away as they are confessed and repented of (I John 1:7-2:2).

     As I further pondered this promise I called to mind another promise in Scripture regarding what the Lord will forget. Ezekiel 18:24 tells us that when a righteous man turns away from doing right and does evil “All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.” This shows us that a person cannot sit back and rest on their past faithfulness anymore than they can willfully continue in sin after becoming a child of God (Hebrews 10:26,27).

     Exactly how it is that an all-knowing God can put from His memory either our sins or our faithfulness is difficult for the human mind to comprehend. However, we can take from these promises either comfort (if we are faithful) or fearful concern (if we are not). If we carry with us the burden of past sins or the false assurance of past righteousness what should concern us is what the Lord remembers. Let us each pray that when we are called to give an account the Lord remembers us and the covenant we have made with Him. That is what truly matters.