Forgive and Forget

by Wayne Blank

Amnesty is a term used to describe a pardon for past acts. Although free (i.e. neither bought nor earned), a pardon is conditional. The person given the pardon, or amnesty, must have turned completely away from their intolerable activities, and thereafter are living an acceptable life. Then, the record of their earlier behavior is officially sealed. The word amnesty itself reflects this act of oblivion; it's derived from the Greek word amnesia, from which also comes the English word amnesia, meaning to forget.

Repent and Live

God will forget the sins of repentant sinners, not as a matter of absentmindedness like a human, but as of Divine Pardon:

Holy Bible

"For this is the covenant [see also Covenant and Testament] that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My Laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 8:10-12 KJV)
"But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God [see What Is Jesus Christ Doing Right Now?]; From henceforth expecting till His enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that He had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 10:12-17 RSV)

Many believe that they have an "immortal soul" but God plainly says "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (see Where Is Your Soul?).

"The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?" (Ezekiel 18:20-23 KJV)

Fact Finder: When will humans actually be "born again"?
See "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit"

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