Christ does not Remember Our Past Forgiven Sins

Did you know that born-again believers do not have a past sinful life?

When we have repented from our sinful lifestyle when we become born-again God wipes away our sinfulness and forgives our individual sins as if we had never sinned.

Those who love to hold onto the sins of others are forgetting their own need for repentance, particularly the sin of pride that makes them love to view others as beneath themselves.

There are many people in our day who gossip about the pasts of others in order to feel superior. If they can hang onto past forgiven sins of others it diverts them from having to face their own sins and demons.

Proverbs 25:9-10

"9 Argue your case with your neighbor,

And do not reveal the secret of another,

10 Or one who hears it will put you to shame,

And the evil report about you will not pass away."

Proverbs 20:19

"19 One who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets;

Therefore do not associate with a gossip."

Those who freely speak of the past forgiven sins of others cannot be trusted to help anyone through their rough patch of repentance and restoration.

As born-again believers, we are more interested in praying for, correcting, and rebuking an individual to restore them. We have no interest in making sure everyone else hears of their sin.

We must expose false teachers and those who may try to influence others to disobey God, but we do not need to be divulging the past sins of those who have changed their lives and now live for Christ.

Only those who feel superior to others desire to ruin the reputations of those who love Jesus Christ.

Sadly there are those who want to ruin others so they can retain the loyalty of those in their sphere. Jealousy is a factor in gossip, the fear that someone might enjoy and love the person they hate.

Romans 1:29

"29 people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips,"

2 Corinthians 12:20

"20 For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish, and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, selfishness, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances;"

Gossip is the destroyer of relationships. The one who gossips to elevate themselves or justify their own anger and jealousy toward someone will eventually be found out and come to ruin themselves.

Proverbs 18:24

"24 A person of too many friends comes to ruin,

But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

It is hard to find a friend like this in these days of apostasy, however, we can be this kind of friend to others when we encounter them. We can choose to treat others with respect, love, and kindness so that we will be a reflection of Christ Who lives in us.

The gossipers will not change until they become born-again. They will continue their path of unrighteous jealousy and anger until they repent. It is impossible to retain a relationship with those who gossip. When we find out that someone will not keep a confidence and will enjoy gossip we must remove them as our friends. They have nothing good in mind for us or others with whom we associate.

From Pruitt Cares Foundation Article

"Proverbs 18 says this person will stick closer than a brother. The word sticks comes from a Hebrew word that’s often translated in the Old Testament as cleave. It means commitment out of a passionate love."

This kind of friendship goes beyond "obligation" to a deep love and concern. This is rare in our world today because the world has lost God's kind of love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.

5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,

6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails;"

When we walk in love we are more concerned about someone repenting and becoming born-again than we are about gossiping to others for the purpose of character and reputation assassination. There ae those who cannot let go of the past because they have never repented from their own past sins. Focusing on others relieves them of guilt over their own past.

Reading the book of 1 Samuel will show us the deep love of Jonathan and David, a friendship that went beyond superficial friendliness.