Forgetting the Past

“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”

Perhaps you have heard that quotation before.  It has no doubt been repeated many times in sermons or articles such as this one.

However, there is something strangely ironic about it.  It comes from a play by Oscar Wilde and was actually spoken by a self-serving, hedonistic man who scoffed at morality and lived solely for pleasure.

Putting aside that dubious origin, consider how that same saying can be understood in another way which conveys a valuable truth.

Tragically many people fall prey to one of Satan’s most insidious and effective ploys.  He convinces them that the sins of their past are so terrible that they have no hope for forgiveness and salvation.

The apostle Paul had things in his past that could have easily made him doubt whether he could ever be forgiven.  In 1 Tim 1:13ff he wrote:

I was formerly a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy . . . Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.  But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

In effect, Paul is saying, “If Christ can save a sinner like me, he can save anyone!”

Paul could surely recall the times when he had helped put Stephen (and others) to death because they were Christians, but he had learned to “forget what lies behind and reach forward to what lies ahead.”  (Phil 3:13)

We are endowed with a conscience by our Creator.  When we realize that we have sinned our conscience should produce a sense of godly sorrow (guilt) in us.  Guilt serves a purpose, but it is not designed to cripple us to the point that we will not seek forgiveness.

We do not deserve forgiveness – that is what grace is all about.  But God tells us that when we accept the forgiveness made possible by Christ’s atoning death He will “remember our sins no more.”   If God forgets them, why can’t we?

Having said that, consider another famous saying by George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  There is certainly an element of truth there also. 

Even when we succeed in putting our forgiven sins behind us, we can still learn lessons that will help not commit them again.

I’m not sure who coined this last quote, but I like it: “Whenever Satan tries to remind you of your past, remind him of his future!”

-  Leonard White

____

Our “Advocate”

After pointing out that all have sinned, the apostle John wrote,  “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”  1 Jn 2:1.

The word translated “advocate” literally denotes “one called to the side.”  It was used in New Testament times to refer to a legal advisor, or pleader, who would come forward in someone’s behalf as their representative.

John pictures Christ as the one who stands by us to plead our case before heaven’s bar of justice.  In the next verse we are reminded that Jesus is “the propitiation for our sins,” which simply means that his death provided the atonement for sin, thereby making it possible for us to obtain forgiveness.

But Christ’s activity on our behalf did not cease at the cross.  The scriptures tell us that Christ, “is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”  Heb 7:25.

We have a Savior who continues to have an active interest in our spiritual welfare.  He intercedes for us – he advocates our cause.

How thankful and confident we should be to know that we have the Son of God, the Lord of lords and King of kings as our representative in heaven!

-  Selected

™

The Robin & the Sparrow

Said the robin to the sparrow,

“I should really like to know,

Why these anxious human beings

Rush about and worry so.”

Said the sparrow to the robin,

“Friend, I think that it must be,

That they have no heavenly Father,

Such as cares for you and me.”

______

“Be not anxious . . . look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?”      (Matt 6:25-26)

View Full Content Source:
https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/resources/articles/2024/09/29/forgetting-the-past