“If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who
could stand? But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.”
Psalm 130:3-4
Somewhere in the back of my memory, I have a list.
It’s called “Forgiven Sins That I Can’t Forget.” The list
isn’t long, but it contains a handful of personal
transgressions that, in my estimation, tend toward the
vile and disgusting. In my lower moments, these old sins
flash in neon lights in front of my thinking. I cringe, recalling
those awful things I am capable of doing. Against my own
conscience, I am unable to stand.
Thankfully, my conscience does not render the final judgment.
Christ does. And oh, how I praise the Lord that He keeps
no lists. To be sure, He takes notice of every sin. But does
He keep account? No. For one thing, God is love and
1 Corinthians 13 says that love “keeps no record of wrongs.”
For another thing, Psalm 103:12 reminds us that “as far as
the east is from the west, so far has he removed our
transgressions from us.”
When we confess our sin, we acknowledge that Christ paid
the penalty for it on the cross. He wipes the slate clean. He
washes away the guilt and cleans our conscience. In other
words, He erases the list. When it comes to the sin of His
truly repentant children, God forgives and forgets.
That’s the nature of His grace.
Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost,
By it I have been pardoned, saved to the uttermost;
Chains have been torn asunder, giving me liberty,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.*
I know you’ve already forgiven me for past sins, Lord, but
today I’m reminded to thank You for Your grace that covers
it all!
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*”Wonderful Grace of Jesus” text and music by Haldor Lillenas, 1918, Hope Publishing
Company, Carol Stream, Illinois.
