“Then he adds: ‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.’ And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” Hebrews 10:17-18
The author of Hebrews again quotes from the Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:34. At the original time of this quote Jeremiah was looking forward into a future time. God was stating that there would come a day in which He will not remember a person’s sin or lawless acts. This was stated while still under the Law requiring sacrifices.
It is easy to forget that God was in control since the day Adam and Eve sinned. Many forget that even on that day He had a plan already in place to save all men from their sins. God knew that He would have to get rid of the sin in order to ‘not remember it’ anymore. Often people think that God felt He messed up and had to try a different plan–requiring sacrifices; and, then, when that did not work, He decided to send His Son to die for us. This was not the case at all. Jesus dying on the cross was the plan from the beginning. After Jesus died and rose again, God is willing to forgive the sins of all who believe in Jesus and what He did.
Here the author states that since man is forgiven there is no need for a sacrifice. Nearly every person will agree that there is no need for animal sacrifice anymore. But many will try to sacrifice other things because of a past sin. Often people will give extra money to the poor to “pay” for their sins and make themselves better for God; or they will do a charity work that they do not really want to do; or they will deny themselves any pleasure. Others will often quit praying because they feel God will not hear them anymore because of some sin they did. Still others will ask God to forgive them of a sin that they have asked forgiveness of a thousand times already. None of these things help at all.
God hears every person, no matter what he has done, if he calls out to Him with a sincere heart. When we accept what Jesus has done for us, we must accept that God has forgiven us and cast out the record of that sin. There is nothing that we can do to help purge a past sin from our lives, Jesus has done it all.
Today we need to rest assured that God has forgiven us of every sin we have repented of. If we ask God with a sincere heart to forgive all of our sins (without mentioning each one by name) He is willing to forgive immediately forever those sins. Do not try to add any type of sacrifice to God for your sins. Only seek God and do what He is calling you to do…nothing more, nothing less. Turn away from those sins and nothing more is ever needed.
I pray that today God will reveal to you His love and forgiveness He has for you; that God will help you to see that you are forgiven in Jesus; that God will help you to see you do not need to do more to be forgiven; and that God will reveal to you the service He has in store for you each and every day.
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