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"What Happens to Our Sins When They Are Forgiven?"
"What Happens to Our Sins When They Are Forgiven?"
The blood of Jesus washes away sin (Rev. 1.5). This is a simple but profound truth rooted in Scripture. Yet, when our sins are washed away, what happens to them? Where do they go?
The Scriptures teach much about the disappearance of our sins. For example, the apostle John recorded, “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin” (1 John 3.5). John the Baptist announced, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1.29)!
God spoke this of the nation of Israel: “...and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins” (Rom. 11.27). Further, Jeremiah the prophet prophesied concerning the new covenant: “...For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (31.34). Surely, to “take away their sins” is equal to “remember their sin no more”. This is especially true when “take away” in all the passages above are defined from the Greek as “to carry (away), to carry off, to remove...” (Louw-Nida - Greek-English Lexicon of the NT)
The Psalmist wrote, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity...” (Psalm 32.1-2). David taught that one’s sins being covered is equal to one’s transgressions being forgiven. This same person would have no iniquities counted to him or her.
Speaking of the better blood offered by Christ, the writer of Hebrews argued, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” and “...every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins” (10.4, 11). The precious unblemished blood of Jesus was sufficient enough to take away the sins of the world, where the blood of bulls and goats could not. Earlier the writer stated, “...he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb. 9.26).
Peter put an interesting spin on what happens to our sins when we are forgiven; he declared, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness...” (1 Peter 2.24). It should be observed that when Peter says our sins are borne in Christ’s body that this is not a literal bearing of sin in the body, rather, Peter uses figurative speech. In 1 John 3.5 above, John affirmed, “...and in him there is no sin.”
What we mean is that to bear something does not of necessity mean to possess that which is borne. For example, in Matthew 8.16-17 we read, “That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.’” Isaiah said it thusly, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (53.4). Note that the Hebrew word for “borne” is “nasa'” meaning “to carry off” or “to take away”. Matthew said that what Christ did was in fulfillment of Isaiah. However, when Christ bore their diseases did He become those diseases or even possess them? When He cast out the spirits of others, did the spirits then possess Him? Certainly not! Further, the Greek for “bore our diseases” is defined by Greek authorities as “to bear away” (Thayer) or “remove” (Louw-Nida). Interestingly, the NLT translates this verse, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.”
What, then, does Peter mean? He means that Christ took away or removed our sins! Notice, “...so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many...” (Heb. 9.28). The word “bear” (anapherÅ) in Hebrews 9.28 is the same Greek word as “bore” in 1 Peter 2.24. One of the meanings rendered by Thayer's Greek Lexicon is “to put upon the altar, to bring to the altar, to offer”. The Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament says of anapherÅ, "figuratively, of Christ's taking sins on himself in order to atone for them bear, take away.” Interestingly, Hebrews 9.26 reads, “...he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”. The Hebrew writer states our sins were “put away”. Therefore, Hebrews 9.26 is divine commentary on 9.28! Jesus “bore” our sins in that He took them away by the sacrifice of Himself! Therefore, when Peter says Christ “bore our sins in His body”, he does not mean our literal sins were placed in His body or that Jesus possessed them, as some mistakenly believe.
Clearly one can see that our sins are taken away! But where do they go? The psalmist declared, “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103.12). Elsewhere we read, “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7.19). God foretold, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more...” (Jeremiah 31.34). He truly forgives and forgets; no longer holding our sin to our account.
It is obvious that our sins are completely gone, taken way, remembered no more and as the Psalmist put it, “covered”! Paul said it this way: God “...passed over former sins” (Rom. 3.25). We should praise God that He sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for us. That is, in the death of Christ we can have a covering for sin (see Rom. 3.25; Heb. 2.17; 1 John 2.1-2; 4.10).
Since our sins are taken away by the blood of Jesus, this writer encourages all who read this to make sure your sins have been covered and remembered no more. Otherwise, if we have not been forgiven of our sins, we can be sure that God will remember them (Rev. 18.5) and He will punish any who have transgressed His word and have not dealt with their sins. When, then, does God no longer remember our sins? Consider the words of Ananias to Saul, “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name” (Acts 22.16). It is when we humbly submit to Christ in baptism that our sins are forgiven by His blood (see Rom. 6.3ff). Then as Christians, if and when we sin, John wrote, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. It is only when we as sinners obey Jesus in baptism or as saints confess our sins that God remembers our sins no more. BG
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