Sin No More

Day 311: Hebrews 8:1-13

“For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” - Hebrews 8:12 ESV

This section is a direct quote from Jeremiah 31:31-34. The theme of that Old Testament passage is focused around the promise of the Israelites' return to Jerusalem after 70 years of exile. Yet Jeremiah (by the Holy Spirit) is overshooting in his prophecy to the time when Jesus came to set up a new covenant.

The way he speaks of sin here would have been mindblowing to a Jewish reader, largely because of their continued need for sacrifices. The cycle for them included piles of sin that would need rolling back regularly. Sin was never truly satisfied and driven out by "the blood of bulls and goats” (Hebrews 10:4).

Does God really forget our sin when He forgives us via the blood of Jesus? God is omniscient (all-knowing), but now our sin account is paid in full. Donald Gutherie writes that this passage "is reassuring because it means that forgiveness is complete. There will be no possibility of sins, once forgiven, being brought against the people of God."

May this motivate us to avoid all that for which Jesus has paid the price. Nothing is worth compromising the lavish act of grace that was made on our behalf, especially the temporary fix that sin offers.