“Through him (Jesus) everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39).

I don’t know about you, but I still sometimes struggle with my repeated sins. Thankfully, I don’t act out my sins, but I sure desire and long for things in my heart that are clearly sin and violate God’s holiness. Because I am a repeat sinner in this department, I sometimes struggle with guilt.

So, this is a good reminder.

• Because of Jesus, we are set free.
• Because of Jesus, God remembers our sins no more.
• Because of Jesus, God doesn’t even see our sins anymore.

When God forgives us our sins, they are no more. They do not exist anymore. They have been forgiven.

I love how Louie Giglio puts it. He says, “If you don’t think you don’t deserve another chance from God…you need to remember you didn’t deserve the first chance either.”

He’s absolutely right. It’s all grace. It’s all God. It’s all because God first loved sinners that we have any hope.

Thanks be to God!

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

The only ones who remember our sins after God has forgiven us is the devil and us. Because the devil knows that we continue to remember our sins even after we have confessed them and received God’s forgiveness, the devil uses that against us. The devil does this by telling us a lie.

God declares, “Forgiven.”

The devil declares, “I know who you really are. You can’t fool me. You know you are a sinner…and a repeat sinner at that!”

Listen to God. He declares, “I will remember their sins no more.” In fact, God tells us in Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

When God forgives our sins, God actively is engaged in removing, tossing, throwing, taking away our sins as far as the east is from the west. That’s the reason why God remembers our sins no more.

This is the only hope for repeat sinners like me, and you. When God forgives our sins, they are remembered no more. So when the devil wants to tell us his lies, you respond to the devil with the truth of God’s words.

We are forgiven. God remembers our sins no more.

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

That times of refreshing may come from the Lord…

Wow. That sounds so good. I want that. I long for that…times of refreshing from the Lord.

How do we get there? How do we make the times of refreshing from the Lord a reality in our lives? The pathway to times of refreshing is paved through repentance and turning away from a life of sin and turning to God.

One of the confusions of our modern culture and Christianity is that people want all of God’s forgiveness without God’s holiness. The cross of Jesus wasn’t about accepting our lifestyle as it is. It is about transforming our lives.

In John 8, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees bring before Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery. The teachers of the law and Pharisees declare that the Law of Moses demands that such a woman be stoned to death, and they ask Jesus what he thinks about that. Jesus said, “Let any of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). And, of course, no one does.

After everyone has departed, imagine if Jesus told the woman, “Hey, go back and keep doing what you’ve been doing? Keep doing you? Do what makes you happy. That’s what God wants – you to be happy. Let’s celebrate you!!!”

That would be ludicrous.

Over and over again, you will find Jesus declare, “You are forgiven. Now, go and sin no more.”

That times of refreshing may come from the Lord…

How do we get there? Through repentance and turning away from sin. That’s how we are transformed.