GONE, GONE, GONE!

A few weeks ago Pastor Robby’s sermon was “Where Are My Sins?” and I have been thinking on that message ever since. The scripture reference he used came from 1 Peter 2:21-25. I like the Common English translation here and that is, “He carried in his own body on the cross the sins we committed. He did this so that we might live in righteousness, having nothing to do with sin.” Vs. 24

This devotion is not my attempt to re-preach our Pastor’s sermon, but to relay a few of my personal thoughts. There were several other answers to the question above that were mentioned in that sermon and the first one was Micah 7:19 in which we read these words, “He will once again have compassion on us; he will tread down our iniquities. You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (CEB)

The depth of the sea in an incomprehensible thought to my little mind! At the very least I will never have to think about them again….or will I? Our adversary would have us to believe those sins never, ever go away. He would have us think that we have to keep hashing them over and over in our minds, and confessing them again and again.

What is the key word in this passage from Micah? I think it is depth; the ocean is deeper than we can imagine, yet some people tend to go fishing there. They keep going over and over their trespasses, wishing they would have acted differently. Hence they keep on feeling bad about their past because they keep on fishing their old sins to the surface again and again. But that’s not the way of grace. Forgiven sins sink to the bottom of the ocean and they stay there!

From Psalm 103:12 we find this promise, “As far as east is from west – that’s how far God has removed our sin from us.” (CEB) As I was reading about the distance between east and west, I came across this statement which I think explains it fully. The phrase as far as the east is from the west is meant to communicate in infinite space. East is in one direction, and west is in the other. This is different from north and south—you can travel north only so far (to the geographic north pole) before being forced to travel south; thus, north and south meet at the poles. But east and west never meet; no matter how far you travel east, you will never reach a point at which your next step must be westward. Therefore, God in His wisdom did not say, “As far as north from south”; rather, He said, “As far as east from west.” (gotquestions.org) As a result, we will never have to think on them again.

Satan would like nothing better than for us to keep reliving those behaviors and choices that have been covered by the blood of Christ. We have God’s promise in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from everything we’ve done wrong.” (CEB)

Take God at His word and believe that your sins, just like the song chorus we have sung at Crestview many times, are GONE, GONE, GONE!

If you don’t know this chorus, the words are below. It’s a great little song to memorize and let it help us to stop reliving the past.

Gone, Gone, Gone, Gone!

Yes, My Sins Are Gone.

Now My Soul Is Free

And In My Hearts A Song;

Buried In The Deepest Sea.

Yes, That’s Good Enough For Me;

I Shall Live Eternally,

Praise God! My Sins Are Gone!