Does God Have Amnesia?

 James R. Aist

“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25)

Introduction

I have heard many Christians say that this and related verses are saying that when God has forgiven our sins, He has forgotten them, as if God has amnesia and cannot remember our forgiven sins. After all, it does say that He blots them out, does it not? But, is that what this and related verses really mean? Does God really have amnesia, or is there a more accurate and correct understanding of “blots out your transgressions” and “remembers your sins no more”? Since we are living under the New Covenant, let’s go there for answers.

First, let’s check out what Hebrews 10:16-18 has to say in this regard: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” Here, we see clearly that “remember no more” is indeed referring to forgiven sins that no longer need a blood sacrifice (because Jesus paid the price for them with His own blood). But, it does not say that God cannot remember them (i.e., has amnesia); it says that He will not remember them (i.e., by choice).

And, Romans 4:8 says, “Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.” Once again, we see that it is God’s will at work here, not amnesia. And it clarifies the matter for us by explaining that the Lord will never “count our sins against us.” So, we see that when God says that He will “remember our forgiven sins no more”, He is not saying that He will forget them in the sense of amnesia, but that, by an overt act of His sovereign will, He will, intentionally, never again bring them to His mind and count them against us. That, in effect, blots them out from our “record” in heaven. And, my friends, that’s even better than amnesia!

Conclusion

When God says that He will “remember our sins no more”, He is not saying that He will forget them in the sense of amnesia, but that, by an overt act of His sovereign will, He will, intentionally, never again bring them to His mind and count them against us.

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