Amnesia: 1: loss of memory due usually to brain injury, shock, fatigue, repression, or illness 2: a gap in one’s memory 3: the selective overlooking or ignoring of events or acts that are not favorable or useful to one’s purpose or position (Webster).
Amnesia, as Webster’s definition #1 says, has been the subject of many stories — real or imagined. An outstanding example is the true story of Anastasia, the Russian czar’s heiress who had amnesia and had forgotten who she really was.
When it comes to God, some claim that He, too, has some kind of amnesia about men’s sins that He has forgiven. “Forgive and forget” is a principle or maxim many people believe in and follow as well as they can — if they could!
The popular religious writer Max Lucado (The Inspirational Reader) wrote about God’s grace and forgiveness: “God doesn’t just forgive. He forgets. He erases the board. He destroys the evidence. He burns the microfilm.”
I well remember a scenario which, decades ago, a church pastor painted about God’s supposed “amnesia”:
SINNER: Lord, do you remember that time I sinned against You but you forgave me of my sin?
GOD: What sin???
The same preacher also said that, unlike human beings, God has perfect memory, as well as perfect forgetting.
This may all sound great and reassuring. But what can we learn about God in this regard, from the testimony of His word, the Bible?
Selective amnesia?
If God indeed “destroys the evidence,” even “burns the microfilm” [or, to be more up-to-date, “deletes/trashes the data from the computer files, CD, memory or USB stick”], what do we make of all the record of people’s sins — forgiven or not — that are forever preserved in the pages of the Bible?
Does God have “selective amnesia,” as Webster’s definition #3 says? Does God forgive and forget the sins of some, while the sins of others He has recorded forever in the Bible?
Is God, then, unfair — a “respecter of faces” and “not impartial?” Romans 2:11, however, assures: “For there is no partiality with God.”
Let’s take the example of the double capital sins of Israel’s greatest king, David. The well-preserved story of his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband Uriah is found in 2 Samuel 11 – 12. David’s repentance of his sins and God’s quick forgiveness are alluded to in David’s celebrated Psalm 51.
In another celebrated psalm, David wrote about God, “Who forgives all your iniquities….For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:3, 11-12).
Does this mean that when God forgives our sins, He takes them to a place which He, and (more so) man, cannot locate — like where the east begins and the west ends? As God asked Job: “Where is the dwelling of light [where the sun rises and stays bright]? And darkness [where the sun sets and darkness begins and stays until sunrise the next day], where is its place, that you may take it to its territory, that you may know the paths to its home” (Job 38:19-20)?
Does this show that when God forgives our sins He then also “forgets” them? That He can’t find them anymore? In David’s case, why — God can just turn to 2 Samuel 11-12 like everybody else can!
When God asked the above-mentioned questions of Job, He was confronting him with his finite knowledge as compared with God’s infinite knowledge. This, as well as the other challenges God posed to him, made Job acknowledge his own limited human knowledge, made him abhor himself and “repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:2-6).
But of course, God knows where He takes our forgiven sins to! [For more on this, see: Two Goats Together, The Ransomed of the LORD, and The Divine Prerogatives.]
The kind of “remembering”
The Bible speaks about God’s “Book of Remembrance“ (Malachi 3:10). Apparently this is a book separate from, but is an adjunct to, The Book of Life.
In this Book of Remembrance God apparently writes down or records all the acts — whether good or bad — of each and every human being who has ever been alive. Without this record (or “evidence,” if you please), how can God, through Jesus Christ, judge every person rightly? As the apostle Paul wrote: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
In John 5:26-29, Jesus said: “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted to the Son [Jesus] to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the grave [the dead] will hear His voice and come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life [everlasting], and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation [or judgment].”
Hebrews 6:10 assures — “For God is not unjust to forget [He remembers!] your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name in that you have ministered to the saints [the spiritual brothers of Christ] and do minister.”
As for the sins of a man that he repents of, here is what God says: “…when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live” (Ezekiel 33:14-16, NKJV). Ezekiel 18:21-22 says a similar thing.
That makes it very clear! God does not have amnesia about the sins which He forgives! He still remembers them. He simply does not remember the sins against the repentant sinner who committed them. Through Christ’s death — and resurrection — the “sting of death” (sin) is removed, and the repentant sinner has the promise and hope of everlasting life (1 Corinthians 15:50-56, 16-17; Romans 3:23-26; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; John 3:16, etc.).
Incidentally, Ezekiel shows that true repentance leads to doing good — what is right and according to the law of God. [See: Freed From Bondage, Transgressions Under the First Covenant, Being and Doing, and Saved For Good Works.]
Remembering without bitterness or guilt
When God forgives our sins, He does not “forget” them in the sense of no longer having any memory of them [in other words, as though He has some amnesia about them].
Instead, in His perfect love God no longer holds against the repentant sinner his sins which God has forgiven in Christ. While “God is angry with the [unrepentant] wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11), He removes His anger toward a repentant sinner (Psalm 103:8-10). Through Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection a truly repentant sinner is now fully reconciled with God (2 Corinthians 5:17-19; Romans 5:10-11). [See: Moses and Jesus — Are They Contraries? and Two Goats Together.]
Even in human relationships, two people who are at odds and later patch up the breach by forgiveness can do the same as God does with our forgiven sins. An offended person does not need to undergo a lobotomy, or suffer some kind of trauma that leads to amnesia, so he can “forget” the offense caused by another which he has already forgiven. Real forgiveness means that the offended person can look back on the offense he underwent and no longer feel the pain or bitterness which the offense and the offender may have caused him.
At the same time, the contrite offender who has been truly forgiven of the offense he caused another person can look back on the offense without any more guilt or shame. As God and the person offended have forgiven him, the repentant offender should also forgive himself. He should be able to humbly face the offended person with confidence — and with care not to commit again the same offense in the future. That is the essence of true remorse or repentance, and reconciliation. [See: Forgiveness in the Bible.]
Boldness with God
Through the forgiveness we have in Christ we can boldly approach God the Father in prayer, and have confidence that we will be heard (Hebrews 10:19-22; 4:14-16; 13:5-6).
In addition, 1 John 3:21-23 tells us: “Beloved, if our heart condemns us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is the commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.”
Amidst the glib declarations of “loving one another” in the world (John 15:19), 1 John 5:2-3 shows us the test of true brotherly love: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” [Compare with John 14:15-21 and see: Are We All God’s Children?]
John says further: “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren [Jesus says that those who do the will of God the Father are His brethren (Matthew 12:50)]. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:14-15).
On Judgment Day, Jesus will judge every one of us on the basis of whether or not we have loved His brethren. “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40; see the context in Verses 31 through 46).
Failure to show love for Christ’s brethren results in punishment with “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” [compare with Revelation 20:10], and “everlasting punishment.” This is in contrast to the righteous receiving eternal life in God’s kingdom (Matthew 25:31, 46).
Revelation 22:15 warns us that, among others, unrepentant murderers will be forever excluded from entering through the gates of the holy city — the New Jerusalem — and from partaking of the “tree of life,” which will give everlasting life and pleasures (Genesis 3:22; Psalm 16:11; 36:8). These murderers — along with other abominable unrepentant sinners — will, in fact, be cast into “the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).
Oblivion for the unrepentant sinner
Malachi 4:1, 3 adds: “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble, and the day which is coming shall burn them up…that will leave them neither root nor branch…You [the righteous] shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I [the LORD of Hosts] do this.”
This “second death” will leave nothing but lifeless ashes of the wicked, who will afterward have no more opportunity [symbolized by “root” and “branch”] to ever live again. They will be consigned to eternal oblivion!
Ezekiel 18:24 helps us visualize what kind of “amnesia” God may have toward those who have tasted God’s gift of righteousness and turn back to wickedness: “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live [forever]? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered [shall be forgotten!]; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.” [See: Why Is the “Unpardonable Sin” Unpardonable? and The Value of the “Firstborn.”]
All things new
Revelation 21:4 reveals God’s true and faithful — sure! — plan: “Behold, I will make all things new.” This will be after God will have created “a new heaven and a new earth,” and before that happens, “the first heaven and the first earth” will have passed away (Verse 1).
2 Peter 3:10-12 describes how the present heaven and the present earth will pass away: “…the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up….all these things will be dissolved….the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat.” “These things” will include all the physical, material works that both God and man have made — even including The Temple in Ezekiel 40-48.
In the new heaven and new earth, only the righteous and faithful children of God will remain. Only those whose names are written in God’s and the Lamb Jesus’ “Book of Life” will be there (Revelation 21:27). As fully “born” of God, they will no longer sin (1 John 3:9). Their “spirits” — as all human beings are equipped with by God (1 Corinthians 2:11; Proverbs 20:27, etc.) — will have been perfected (Hebrews 12:23). [See: What Happens to Man After Death? and Are We All God’s Children?]
We could hope that the “elements” of the present material heaven and earth which the ultimate “fervent heat” will dissolve would also dissolve all records of mankind’s folly and sin. By then, all who will be in God’s divine family will not need to “learn” from the past, as we now have to, from the Bible and history. The immortal children of God will have become perfect as God is perfect (Matthew 5:40). They will never, and can never, ever sin anymore!
Perhaps then — and only then — will God (and His immortal children) have “amnesia” about all things past? To be sure, though, the memory of both the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of Christ will eternally be preserved in the Holy City, the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:9-14, etc.). [See: God’s Kingdom and Israel.]
Let’s wait and see!
Meanwhile, let’s be sure we’ll be there to see how it will all turn out! As the apostle Peter exhorts: “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved [as mentioned earlier], what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness” (2 Peter 3:11). [See: “Be Holy for I Am Holy.”]
Pedro R. Meléndez, Jr.
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