For the second last Sunday of the Church year, the Series B readings are Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-25 and Mark 13:1-13. The text of the sermon chosen to preach about is Hebrews 10:17, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Here again is a text that can lead to the conclusion that the Bible again contradicts itself. For how can God say that He will no longer remember our lawless deeds and yet still be omnisicent (all knowing)? This is not a god I would want to follow if He forgets things. Oh, we certainly appreciate Him forgetting our sins but how about forgetting His promises? Obviously, we are not thinking like God which is the purpose of every sermon and Bible study; namely, to get us to begin to think like God.
The problematic word is “remember.” We imagine that it is always referring to our memory. But even in English we use the word in another sense. Two brothers are wrestling with each other and the one hits the other in the nose and causes bleeding. The one who is bleeding says, “I’m going to remember this.” What does he mean? Is he going to put it into his memory banks and never forget it? No. What he is saying is that he is going to get even someday in the future.
The reverse is what God is saying when He says that He will no longer remember our sins. He is giving us a promise that He will no longer get even with us for our sins. In other words, He is not a god of justice in giving us what we deserve. Instead, He is the God of mercy in not giving us what we deserve and the God of grace in giving us what we do not deserve. Yet, how can He do that in light of His promise that “in the day you sin, death is the result”? And that death Adam and Eve experienced as they separated themselves from God by trying to hide where He was.
This is where the cross of Christ is so critical. For when Jesus died He did not take away our sins in the sense that we no longer sin. Just look into the mirror of the Law and you will see that did not happen. Then just what did Jesus take away? He took away the curse of the Law. As our Substitute, He took upon Himself the punishment of eternal damnation in the words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me.” God answered, “Because you have on your shoulders the sins of Tom Baker and in fact, the sins of the entire world.”
Forgiveness is the Good News of the Gospel because it means that God no longer holds you accountable for your sin. It is a message that the world needs to hear because it is for everyone. Unlike some who say, “If you believe in Jesus Christ, then your sins will be forgiven” the real message is, “Your sins have been forgiven, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Thus, when God says He will no longer remember our sins it is because He held His own Son accountable for your sins and will never hold you accountable for your sins. That’s Good News. That’s the essence of the Gospel of the Christian faith. And that is what needs to be in every sermon because it is the reason why God instituted the holy Christian Church.
Name:Tom Baker