Daily Manna · Day 94 · April 4
Forgotten on Purpose
“And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
There are two kinds of people who read this verse, and it does opposite things to each of them.
The first person cannot forget. Usually it is not the big sins that haunt her but the foolish ones: something she said at sixteen, or the way she treated someone who trusted her. It replays in sharp detail while the house sleeps. She has confessed it more times than she can count, and each confession brings relief for about a week.
The second person has found the verse useful. It comes to mind quickly now, and it takes the sting out of his guilt in a few seconds. He has noticed that it works, and he has stopped looking honestly at what he did.
Hebrews is quoting Jeremiah here, where God sets out the terms of a new covenant. Straight away Hebrews draws one conclusion from it: "Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." Remission means forgiveness, the cancelling of a debt. That sentence is for the first reader. There is nothing left for her to bring. Confessing a forgiven sin over and over is really an attempt to pay for something that has already been paid, and once a debt is paid, nobody can pay it again.
Nine verses later, Hebrews says something the second reader should not skip: "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." Those are nearly the same words, "no more sacrifice," now used as a warning. Either way there is nothing left to bring. For the first reader, that means her debt is finished. For the second, it means there is no other way out if he turns his back on the one sacrifice that covers him.
So one truth does two jobs. God's forgetting is deliberate and complete. He promised it in a covenant and sealed it with the one offering of Jesus. It belongs to a living relationship with Him, and He does not remove guilt on demand like a machine. The difference between the two readers lies in what each one wants from the verse. If you are the first reader, you can rest tonight, because God has chosen not to remember and He keeps His word. If you are the second, come back to Him honestly, and you will find the same mercy waiting for you.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 94 is Wood Every Morning (Leviticus 6:13).