12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
One of the wonderful things about the new promise God made in Christ is that we get a completely clean slate. In the Old Testament, the Law provided for cleansing of sin, but also an annual reminder of that sin. Since the sacrifices did not actually remove sin, but only pointed to the finished work of Christ on the Cross, the sacrifices still left their consciences stained with the remnants of the sin. But in Jesus all the remnants can be removed. We can be restored. When we are forgiven in Christ the sins are never held against us. They are never brought up in an argument as a way to gain power or get even. God does not consider them as part of our relationship. We don’t do that very well with each other. When we hurt each other it can be very difficult to not consider the hurt as part of the relationship. Sometimes the hurt jumps from the past right into the present, and we can’t do much about it. The pain can rise very unexpectedly. It can be a very unwelcome visitor. We might want the past to be the past, but sometimes it jumps right in the middle of our emotional soup. We might now even know from where it came. Suddenly there is this unexpected emotion popping up. This never happens with the Lord. When we are forgiven, He never has the past pop into His mind in a way that negatively effects His relationship with us. We are forgiven! When He sees us, He sees us as if we had always obeyed Him. That is because we get credit for what Jesus did, and Jesus always obeyed. So today, if you feel like your past is invading your present, remember that the Lord does not hold that over your head. You get a clean slate with Him.
The Arnold Journey 