Selective Memory
“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 8.12
Two men were sipping their coffee when one quipped, “Whenever my wife and I get into an argument, she always gets historical.” To which his friends said, “Don’t you mean that she gets hysterical?” “No,” replied the first man, “She gets historical – she brings up every bad thing that I ever did.”
Our text verse contains a phrase that is repeated in some fashion in three places in the Bible. The two references in Hebrews (Hebrews 8.12; 10.17) find their foundation in the New Covenant proposed in Jeremiah 31.34, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Since God is omniscient (all-knowing), it would be impossible for Him to simply decide not to remember; that would be something outside of His character. Furthermore, to decide not to remember without having the sin issue properly handled is also outside of God’s character. Sin must not only be confessed, but it also must find proper satisfaction.
During the wilderness wanderings of Israel, God had provided His Law and His provision for developing a relationship with Him despite man’s sinful condition. The problem was that Israel never fully, as a nation, entered into that covenant relationship and found themselves on the wrong end of God’s correcting rod many times. They saw God in His righteousness and holiness; however, they did not see Him as the answer to their most desperate need – fellowship with their Creator-God.
Understanding man’s sinful weakness, God once again stepped in to offer the answer for humanity’s sinful separation from God. What Jeremiah reveals is commonly called the “New Covenant.” It is a promised relationship between God and His fallen creation. You will notice that the One making this covenant properly identifies Himself as the LORD (all caps), which translates Yahweh (Jehovah). The word refers to the proper name of the God of Israel, particularly the name by which He revealed Himself to Moses. (Exodus 6.2, 3) It designates the self-Existent or the eternal One who was revealed in history by His forerunner John (Matthew 3.3) and identified by John the Apostle (John 1.1-5). This is the name Israel, in part, never understood. The Law was designed to point them to this One; however, they, as a nation, missed this entirely and relied upon the blood of bulls and goats rather than walking in the revealed light from God.
The One executing this New Covenant was and is the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is worthy and He alone is capable of fulfilling the Law’s demands for a perfect sacrifice for sin. Under the New Covenant of the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Executor has left Someone to “teach” the way of righteousness. (John 16.8-11)
Having entered into this New Covenant relationship, the believer has opportunity to enjoy fellowship as we enter boldly (with freedom of speech, without concealment) into His presence. Having entered into this relationship, the Holy Spirit of God becomes our teacher implanting God’s Word in our hearts. While this is true, we must remember that the Holy Spirit will never teach us something which is opposed to the written, revealed Word of God. John warns us to try the spirits because there are many false prophets in the world teaching things outside of the Canon of Scripture. (I John 4.1)
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