God Completely Forgets Our Sins Under the New Covenant

[Melear] You know, gratefully, we are in that marginal period of the Feast where the symptoms of this medical condition called TZS, they begin to diminish or lessen. And I know we have at least two medical doctors attending and close to ten nurses, and they probably all know what the medical condition is called TZS. And it is a medical condition that uniquely and predominantly affects people who attend the Feast of Tabernacles internationally.

TZS usually erupts within the first three days of the Feast, and today is day three. But it’s true, TZS can be dangerous. This medical condition, called TZS stands for Time Zone Syndrome. My wife, Jackie, at the Feast site in Turkey on the opening night church service, came close to almost needing to go to the hospital. She was on the front row. The room was hot, and she added meaning to the expression “rock and roll.” And we’ve all done that maybe over the years, and I was giving this sermon, but that’s totally irrelevant to the story.

TZS usually attacks a victim during the sermon portion of a church service. Sometimes TZS, Time Zone Syndrome, can be misdiagnosed when, in fact, people fall asleep during the sermon because simply it’s a boring message. And for those of you who fall asleep today — and we will know who you are — I’m going to go with the TZS syndrome.

Now, in the United States, for you Americans, there’s a TV show called Jeopardy, and it was the host of that, Alex Trebek, who was actually referred to in the sermonette. Now, it’s a question-and-answer show for contestants in all sorts of categories, like science, history, music, arts, geography, entertainment, sports — any type of questions that you can think of. And the winners, if you’ve ever watched the show, the winners and most of the contestants have unbelievable memories. It’s like everything they have ever read, seen, or experienced, they never forget. Their memory retention is supreme.

But did you know that there are scientific studies that have demonstrated that this category of people with the greatest memories who never forget anything — do you know what this category is of people? The people with the greatest memories are spouses in marriage. You know, Mario Seiglie gave a great sermon yesterday on families, but I must critique it publicly. He failed to mention that when you get married, a natural law comes into play, and that no matter who you marry, they will develop the ability to never forget anything you ever say or do.

Now, we just announced the engagement of David and Hannah. Little do they know that they are going to develop this skill to never forget something that the other spouse will do. Now, that leads into my sermon. I have studied the New Covenant — we had a message here about some of the covenants for the Bible study today — I have studied the New Covenant fairly thoroughly, and I’ve given a number of sermons on that topic. I have categorized 17 aspects of the New Covenant. Now, if you were to pursue the same project, you might have more, you might have less, and most of the categories that you would come up with overlap with the ones that I identified.

One category of the New Covenant is a promise that will have greater depth and application during the Millennium than this time in history. During the Millennium, this promise will be highlighted. And if we are part of the family and leaders of the First Resurrection, or First Fruit Resurrection, then we need to be aware of this promise. What aspect of the New Covenant am I specifically referring to? Turn, if you will, or go to Jeremiah 31:31.

Verse 31 reads, "The days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." The days are coming in the future Millennium for the New Covenant with the house of Israel and Judah. Other scriptures demonstrate that this New Covenant will extend beyond the house of Israel and Judah to all humanity. And it can be demonstrated that the New Covenant is fulfilled in stages and not all at once. For we here as the firstfruits of God already are legally bound to this New Covenant at baptism.

Verse 32, "Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt." Obviously referring to the Mosaic Covenant at Mount Sinai. The New Covenant agreement is different from the Mosaic Covenant agreement.

Verse 34 refers to one of the differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant: "No more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," says the Lord, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:34).

A fantastic promise of the New Covenant claims that God will not only forgive sins — our sins — but additionally, God will not remember our sins anymore. Now, this is not a figurative expression. This is a literal proclamation. And what this means is that at some point in history, or at some point in eternity, God will choose to not remember or think about our specific sins.

Have you ever been in a conversation and a person from the past is brought up, and we say, “Oh yes, I remember him — especially the time he…”? Well, you remember what he did. “Yes, but that was years ago, and he’s really changed.” “Oh yeah, he has changed, but can you believe what he did?”

Today, I want to focus on this aspect of the New Covenant promising the forgetting of sins. There is a difference between forgiveness under the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The Old Covenant promised forgiveness of sins. A promise of the New Covenant is that God continues to forgive sin. The process of forgiveness under the Old Covenant is much different than the process under the New Covenant. But do we know the differences of forgiveness between the Old and the New Covenant? We should.

Under the New Covenant, our sins are taken away. Under the Old Covenant, our sins were covered up. We just kept the Day of Atonement. Yom Kippur in Hebrew means “Day of Covering.” Under the Old Covenant, on the Day of Atonement, the entire nation of Israel was reconciled to God.

Now, how was the entire nation of Israel reconciled to God? Because the high priest properly and successfully processed the animal sacrifices. And because of the successful and carefully obedient processing of the sacrificial animal, the sins of ancient Israel were forgiven and covered up.

Yom Kippur — Day of Covering — their sins couldn’t be seen. You put a roof on a house, it is covered up, and you can’t see what’s inside the house from the top. Do you have a hood on your car? It’s a capor — it covers up the engine. The Old Covenant, you have a bloody animal sacrifice for sin, and if it’s done properly, God accepts it. The sin is covered up, and a person is forgiven and reconciled to God — till the next time he sins.

What is the process for the forgiveness under the New Covenant? You know, it says, "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers." Go to Matthew 26:28.

Verse 28 says, "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28).

How about Hebrews 10:4? Hebrews 10:4 reads, "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats" — old covenant — "could take away sins."

Well, let’s contrast that with Romans 11:26. Romans 11:26 reads, "And so all Israel will be saved" — this is a prophetic reference to the future Millennium — "as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins" (Romans 11:26–27).

The sacrificial blood of Christ, under the new covenant, takes away sin.

What did John the Baptist say about Christ? "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’" (John 1:29).

At our home in Fort Collins, Colorado, we have a process of removing our trash that symbolizes both the old covenant and the new covenant in dealing with sin. So we dispose of trash. When we dispose of trash, we place it in a bin in our kitchen that has a cover, that has a lid — a capoore. And when that bin fills up, we take it outside to a larger plastic bin or container, which has a lid or a top — a capoore. And that trash is covered up.

That is old covenant — the trash is covered up. But every Thursday, we wheel that larger trash bin out to the front street curb, and a garbage truck comes around 9 a.m. every Thursday morning, and the garbage truck empties the plastic trash bin into the truck. The garbage truck takes away the trash and leaves the container. It is like the trash never existed. Exactly like the forgiveness under the new covenant.

Next, I want to focus on that the new covenant is established on three better promises regarding the forgiveness of sin.

Go to Hebrews 8:6. Verse 6 reads, "But now He, Jesus Christ, has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises" (Hebrews 8:6).

The new covenant is not established by doing away with the old covenant laws of God. The new covenant is established on better promises. And the new covenant is established on three better promises regarding the forgiveness of sin. There may be more than three.

Better promise number one regarding forgiveness: Not only is the relationship with God restored, but we have the promise of eternal life.

Under the old covenant, a person takes an animal to the priesthood as a bloody sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. God accepts it. The person is forgiven, and the relationship between the person and God is restored. Okay, the relationship is restored, but beyond that, there is only the promise of physical, national, or individual blessings.

Under the old covenant, if you sin again, you are under condemnation — and you will sin again. Two things can happen. A person can walk two days to find the priest and sacrifice an animal for sin. He will then be in a state of forgiveness and reconciliation. Then the person walks home for two days. He arrives home, and this person hasn’t listened to Mario Segue’s sermon that we heard yesterday about family. This person arrives home, he’s grumpy, he unjustifiably yells at his wife, he yells at his kids, and he kicks the cat. He has sinned again, and he falls under condemnation. He is not in the state of forgiveness.

Or a second situation can happen. The person is leaving for home after the animal sacrifice. He is in a state of forgiveness and reconciliation. He’s barely outside the temple area, he has a heart attack, and he dies. He was in a state of forgiveness and reconciliation. So what? There’s no promise of eternal life.

If you look up the exact phrase eternal life, it can be found 32 times in the Bible, and they are all in the New Testament. Go to 1 John 2:25. "And this is the promise that He has promised us — eternal life" (1 John 2:25).

Better promise number one regarding the forgiveness of sins, comparing the old covenant to the new covenant — eternal life.

Better promise number two comparing the aspects of sins to the old covenant versus the new covenant — there is now no condemnation if we are in Christ. That’s the second promise under the new covenant, regarding sin.

Let’s consider the process of forgiveness under the new covenant. You know, the old covenant had a priesthood. Do we, the new covenant Christians, have a priesthood? Yes, we do.

Go to Hebrews 3:1. Verse 1 reads, "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1).

You know, the confession of sins is to attain forgiveness. When we come to God, we have a repented heart. We ask God for the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from our sins. We pursue baptism. We seek the gift of the Holy Spirit. And when we sin, we are not immediately condemned because we have God’s Holy Spirit living in us.

And Romans 8:1 comes into operation. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:1–2).

Here’s our promise: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:1–2).

So we have two laws mentioned. The law of sin and death is not done away with. The law of the Spirit in Christ frees us from the law of sin. It has preeminence. It is a better promise. It is the new covenant.

Under the old covenant, there is a physical human priesthood. But under the new covenant, Christ is our High Priest. And the main purpose of the physical human priesthood was to carry out the process for the forgiveness of sin. And the process for the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ has changed, and it is based on a second better promise — that there is now no immediate condemnation for sin if we have Christ living in us.

Better promise number three, comparing the aspect of forgiveness under the old covenant versus the new covenant, is that God promises to come to a point in time where He will not remember our sins anymore. Promise of God number three — promise of God not remembering sins no more. Our sins are not covered up. Our sins are taken away.

Go to Hebrews 8:8. "Because finding fault with them" — not fault with the laws, but with them — "He says: ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah’" (Hebrews 8:8).

And then verse 12: "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more" (Hebrews 8:12).

Verse 13: "In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away" (Hebrews 8:13).

This is an amazing promise. An amazing promise. It’s also an amazing promise that God can impose upon Himself at His own will, His own volition, and His own timing.

Now, as humans, we all have skills and talents at various levels and categories. Some of us are great cooks. Some are skilled carpenters. Some are talented athletes. Others, music — as we saw a few minutes ago. God has this quality and talent that if He chooses to forget sin, it is so done.

So now we’re going to move into the dimensions of forgetting sin. I’ve got four dimensions of forgetting sin.

First dimension: Forgiveness comes first. If we don’t have an attitude to forgive, then forgetting about sin is a futile discussion. And that’s why in Jeremiah, God says first that He forgives sin and then He is willing to remember sins no more. Forgiving — it’s a separate issue. It is an additional benefit displaying the glory of God.

A second dimension of forgetting sin is forgetting others’ sins against us. Forgetting others’ sins against us. And here is the reality for the new covenant Christian in this lifetime: oh yes, we forget things. But we don’t have the ability to intentionally forget serious and life-impacting circumstances and hurts and emotional injuries. The new covenant promise is that God will forget all our sins. And technically, it doesn’t say that we will forget all the sins of others. However, God is creating us to be like Him in His fullness, in character, for eternity.

But if God gives us the miraculous ability to forget the sins of others, it is reserved only for those who are willing to truly forgive. I’m intentionally not mentioning stories about serious pain and hurt that some of us have experienced, or maybe we’ve inflicted on others. I’m not going to manipulate the crowd emotionally with cringing stories of betrayal, rape, pedophilia, or incest. Those who have been victimized have some of the greatest and personal challenges in the Christian life.

Let’s talk about a third dimension of forgetting sin. The third one is forgetting our personal sins. Have you ever done something so bad that you cringe when you think about it? We can’t undo it. We either said it or we did it, and it doesn’t matter how much we regret it — we can’t take it away. Extreme feelings of remorse don’t remove the act. Sincere compunction and tears don’t erase the reality of what we might have done.

For some people, a heinous crime or act is so despicable, so negatively impacting other people and their lives, that what they did becomes their lifetime legacy. That’s what they’re remembered for. Now, for the Americans here, John Wilkes Booth lived 26 years. I only know one thing about John Wilkes Booth — he murdered President Abraham Lincoln. That is his legacy. Lee Harvey Oswald lived 24 years. I only know that he’s the prime suspect in the murder of President John F. Kennedy. That is his legacy. That’s what we remember him for.

But God proclaims that He will forget sin. Does Rahab want to be remembered for eternity as the prostitute from Jericho? David was a man after God’s own heart, but he was a murdering womanizer. Will that be forgotten? I don’t understand it all. Does that mean that parts of the Bible historically will be removed at some point? I don’t know. I don’t know what details will be preserved.

There are many levels or degrees of sin, offenses, or crimes that we might intentionally or unintentionally inflict upon another person. And sometimes, you know, we have committed sin to the level that a person justifiably never wants to be in our presence again, or at least in this lifetime. And then some of us will go to great lengths to avoid them — and then maybe we cooperate and also surely avoid them.

You know, in my job, because I handled the registration of the Feast of Tabernacles, I have people every year who ask me where another person is attending for the Feast so they’re going to go to the same Feast and randomly run into a person where potential conflict might arise. I mean, can you imagine in the Millennium? Oops! I wasn’t expecting my ex to be at that event. We’re both in the Kingdom. I was able to avoid her for 326 years into the Millennium.

Anyway, forgiving ourselves is also a part of the process. There is sometimes a direct link between guilt and suicide. Some people with great remorse cannot forgive themselves. Some of us even struggle with the faith and belief that God can love us so much that God says He would even fully forgive me. The reality of God goes beyond forgiving — even to the point that God is willing to blot out the memory of our sin. Not covering our sin, but taking away the sin as if it never occurred.

And that takes us to the fourth dimension of forgetting sin — because God more than forgives sin, God is willing to forget sin.

So, fourth dimension of forgetting sin: forgetting sin, God’s identity and character. This fourth dimension of forgetting sin — God’s identity and character.

Now we’re here picturing the Millennium. Here is a prophecy referring to the Millennium: Isaiah 43:18–21.

"Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43:18–20).

That’s millennial. "To give drink to My people, My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise" (Isaiah 43:20–21). So in context here, we’re talking and referring to the millennium.

Now sometimes people ask me how I came up with my topics when I speak over the years. And here I hope that I was led to select this topic because I was studying the promises of the new covenant, and forgetting sin stood out when I came across this scripture — verse 25 of Isaiah 43. Because verse 25 is in the context of verse 19, these scriptures we just read. "He says, ‘I will do a new thing’" (Isaiah 43:19). And look what it says in verse 25: "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins" (Isaiah 43:25).

Look at this word, blots. It means to erase, utterly wipe away, not cover up. It is blotted out as if something never existed. You cannot remember something that never existed.

May I make a bold statement? My opinion? Are you ready? Verse 25 — this under-emphasized scripture is one of the greatest scriptures in the Bible. This is one of the greatest scriptures in the Bible in regards to revealing the nature of God. It speaks to the character and glory of God. And it’s all about the millennium and eternity.

So let’s dissect this scripture. Number one: God blots out our transgressions. Number two: why does God blot out our transgressions? What is His motivation? I’ll read the scripture — for His own sake. God loves us so much that when He thinks about us, He doesn’t want to have negative, lingering, sinful baggage. And the third part of the scripture, number three: "and I will not remember your sins" (Isaiah 43:25).

God’s relationship with us is to be so enriching that it exceeds the human level. You know, we humans can seriously say, “I love you.” Human nature has the ability to forgive, but “I remember what you did.”

Let’s compare this scripture with the most famous scripture in the Bible. What is the most famous scripture? John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Yes, God offered Jesus as the sacrifice of sin because of His love for the world. But that is not the only reason that God offered up Jesus Christ. Isaiah 43:25 adds depth to the personality and nature of God.

Look at the scripture. It has a double emphasis. God refers to Himself twice. "I, even I" — the true God — "blot out your transgressions" (Isaiah 43:25). And do you know why I do it? Do you? Do you humans understand why? You know, the natural flow of the human answer would be, “Well, You did it for us.” Instead, God says, “I forget sins for My own sake.”

Oh yes, God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son, but He also did it for His own sake. What does that mean? It is how God identifies Himself.

In the Western culture today, we often hear about how people identify. “I identify as a woman.” “I identify as a man.” “I identify as non-binary.” “I identify as a transgender.” “I identify as a Republican.” “I identify as a Democrat.” And in the first century church, some said, “I identify with Paul.” “I identify with Apollos.” “I identify with Peter.”

In Isaiah 43:25 — one of the most revealing scriptures in the Bible — here is God identifying Himself. Double emphasis: "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins" (Isaiah 43:25). It is who I am. I don’t change. I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. I do things for My sake because that is who I am. I, I God, choose not only to forgive sins, but I choose to never remember them again — forever.

The great miracle of forgetting sin is a godly gift for both the victim and the perpetrator. And which one are we? Are we the victim? Are we the perpetrator? Or are we both?

Conclusion: If somebody asked you what my sermon was about, it’s not about forgiveness. It goes beyond. My message is about the glory of God being willing to forget sin and most likely giving that ability to us at some point in the future.

So let me end by discussing the concept of closure. I’ve never preferred the term closure. That’s just my personal opinion or preference. I’m just saying that when I hear somebody say, “Well, now I have closure, and now I feel better, I can move on.”

You know, there have been little children — missing children — sometimes for years, and then the body has been found and identified, and the parents say, “Well, now we have closure.” Or the perpetrator of a heinous crime has been convicted, and the family says, “Now I have closure.” But in reality, the pain and the grief remain. The memory of that despicable crime remains.

True closure goes beyond forgiving. Forgetting is a part of the full eternal closure. You know the scripture: "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). God, I forgive; help me with my forgetting.

Do you want to be like God? Do you want to be like God? Do you? It’s not easy. It’s a miracle. And the fullness of the miracle of the new covenant promise of God forgetting all our sins — and most likely our ability to do the same — remains for the millennium and eternity. And then we will have eternal closure.