Questions & Answers: Will God remember all your sins and remind you of them on the judgment day?

Question:

Answer:

There is nothing in the Bible that says that God will remember or bring up your sins after you have repented.  The Bible says a lot that says that God will NOT remember or bring up your sins after you have repented. 

"Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight."  Romans 4:7  

"O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low." Psalms 79:8

"Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old."  Isaiah 43:1

"Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more."   Isaiah 54:4

"On that day you will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from this city those who rejoice in their pride. Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill."  Zephaniah 3:11  

"Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people."  Isa 64:9

"And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me."  Isaiah 49:23  

"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jeremaih 31:34

"I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake;  and I will not remember your sins"  Isaiah 43:25 Heb. 8:12; 10:17

If a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery,... he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. Ezekiel 33:15-16

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Hebrews 8:12

"Come now and let us reason together," says the Lord, Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."  Isaiah 1:18

"Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.  He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea."  Micah 7:18-19

Note that this does not say, "sea of forgetfulness," as some quote it.  However, the concept is correct.  If God demands of us that we do not bring up the sins that others have committed against us once we have forgiven them, then how could we think that God would bring up our sins once we have repented, turned from, our sins and He has forgiven us for them?

God not only covers our sins but also removes them, though the forgiveness is instant while the removal of the sinful nature is a process that is fully described in the Bible.  That's why John says to Christians: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."  1 John 1:8  We have a sinful nature that can do no right, but this will not always be so.  We have Christ abiding within, transfiguring us to be like Him, that the Body of Christ comes into unity and conformity to Jesus, the Head of the Body.  He is not concerned with what we were but with what we are to become.  Some have said that we should not go fishing for our sins after God has cast them into the depths of the sea.  That is true as well, for many reasons.  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9  Note that God wants not only to forgive our sins, but to cleanse us from AL unrighteousness.  Is God able?  Yes, He is.  Is God willing?  Yes, He is.  The cleansing is through the Church, for that is the mechanism God uses to show His wisdom to the principalities and powers.  (Ephesians 3:10)  
 
There are only two ways that the sins of your past can come back. 

One way is if you agree with Satan to bring them back.  Satan will accuse.  That is certain.  He accuses in an attempt to wear you out and to bring you back into sin.  Don't believe the old liar.  Believe God. 

The second way that your sins can come back is if you refuse to forgive others.  This is a huge problem in the Church and Satan is delighted with unforgiveness.  "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."  Luke 6:37  "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you your transgressions." Matthew 6:14-15  Some have constructed theological work-arounds to rationalize these Scriptures away, but they are real.  The fact is that it is Christ who does His work through you, including the work of forgiveness.  If you try to self-generate works, you become like the foolish Galatians.  The only way to do the work of God is to believe God when He leads you, which brings God's faith, which gives you access to God's grace and allows God's grace to do the works (in this case, forgiveness) through you.  Then, Satan may accuse and say that you have not forgiven good enough, but that is the old liar again.  
 
There is a consequence to sin as you well know.  I am certain that you have suffered much sadness and misery as we all do when we sin.  God has a kind of quality control process working in our lives, and He describes that in several places in the Bible.  
 
1 Corinthians 3:11-16 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;  
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.  
14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.  
15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.  
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  
 
There is nothing to be gained by God in bringing up that which He has told you that He would forgive when you repented, covering that sin and casting it into the depths.  At the same time, there are many works that will be burned up because they have no lasting value.  Sin (stubble) is in this category, but all works that are self-generated (wood) are also in this category.  Works that we use for our own pride (hay) are also in this category of that which will burn in the fire.  There is a lot that seems very religious and that seems far from sin that is actually going to be burned up in God's fire, God's quality control process.  
 
That which God leads us into and that is actually the result of God working through us and God doing the work (gold), if we don't grab the glory for ourselves in any way, that will survive the test of fire.  Also, as a result of listening to God and believing Him to the point where He can do His work in and through you, this results in you being set free from the systems of this present dying age, being set free from your own fleshly nature in your mind and body, and being set free from the power of the principalities and powers of evil.  This is redemption (silver), and it will last through the fire.  Then, there are those saints of God (precious stones) to whom you minister and build up in their faith by your words and example.  That will last through the fire.  
 
Through the Church, God will show His wisdom.  "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world" John 1:29.  All sin will be removed.  That may be hard to believe.  We now see that every person, born again or not born again, sins.  This will not always be true since Jesus has already done the work that was needed to accomplish not only the removal of all sin but also the restitution of all things.  (Acts 3:17-21)  
 
So God will not remember these old sins from which you have turned but there is nothing hidden from God.  For those who are born again, there is a process by which we grow toward fullness in Him.  This process is through the Church.  It is by that which every joint supplies.  There is a lot of information about this on http://www.SeekFind.net.   Here is a good place to start: The Meaning of Life.

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