Forgiveness Erases Heaven's Records

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I said in an earlier section that everything will be judged and that nothing will be overlooked on that day, however that is not entirely correct because as believers there is one area of our lives that will not be judged. The area I am referring to is all sin that has been confessed before the Lord and for which the saints have received forgiveness. In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the apostle John instructs us to confess our sins before the Lord, which obviously implies that when we confess our sins we are at the same time to repent of those sins and ask His forgiveness. The Holy Spirit tells us that if we do this that our Lord Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. The result of the Lord’s forgiveness is that all of those sins are blotted out of heaven’s records by the blood of the Lamb, and are thus treated as if they never happened. And so because there is no longer any record of those sins the saints will not be held to account for them on that day.

Hebrews 10:17 “then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

The above quoted passage of scripture clearly teaches us that when God forgives our sins He remembers them no more. And so we see that that which is forgiven in this age will not be brought to account in the age to come. Please note that I am talking about known sin that believers commit, not unknown sin committed in ignorance or unintentional sin, for we can only confess sins that we know about before the Lord. And so it is that when saints confess their known sins before the Lord, all their sins committed in ignorance and all their unintentional sins are also cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, because of which those sins are also not recorded in heaven and the saints will not be held to account for them on that day (for more detail regarding this point see my series “Born Free from Sin”).

Matthew 6:11-12 “Give us this day our daily bread.  (12) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

We need to address the point regarding known sins in a little more detail because it is extremely important. Believers should always keep a short account of their lives before the Lord at all times. So why do I say that? In the passage of scripture quoted above when our Lord Jesus taught on prayer, He taught us to ask our heavenly Father each day for our daily bread, thus implying that we should be praying at least daily. In the very next verse of scripture our Lord then taught us to ask our heavenly Father to forgive us our sins as we forgive others. Clearly the principle our Lord is teaching us in this passage is that just as we should be praying daily before the Lord, so it is that we should also daily confess our sins before the Lord asking His forgiveness. So why is it important to confess our sins daily before the Lord? Those who choose not to confess their sins daily run the risk of forgetting past sins committed and thus not asking for forgiveness for those sins. Those sins which have not been forgiven remain on heaven’s records and those sins will have to be accounted for on that day. I have seen believers swear at fellow believers in anger and then walk off, and I have wondered to myself if they would later repent before the Lord of their sin and ask His forgiveness or if they would just forget about it, because if they did just forget about it, heaven certainly wouldn’t. That sin would have been recorded and it will be brought to account on that day.

1 John 5:16 “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not to death. There is sin to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.”

As I have already mentioned earlier, it is very important that we keep a look out for our brothers and sisters in Christ in the area of sin. So why is it important? When a believer falls into sinful practices, they become blinded by the god of this world as they step into darkness (1 John 2:11). And so what happens is that they become more and more oblivious to the sin that they are committing, thus not asking the Lord for forgiveness any longer. This is why scripture teaches us in the passage of scripture quoted above that if we see our brother committing sin that is not to death that we should intercede to the Lord on their behalf, asking Him to forgive them their sin. That prayer has the same effect as if they themselves had asked the Lord’s forgiveness. He immediately cleanses them of their sin and they once again can clearly see their sin, repent and walk in fellowship with Him once again. In scripture Moses is given to us as an example of one who interceded to the Lord on behalf of the children on Israel for their sins committed against Him. Time and again our Lord listened to Moses prayer of intercession and forgave the children Israel their sins, even though they were oblivious to the fact that they had come close to experiencing the judgement and wrath of God (Exodus 32:9-14). And so the same role that Moses took, our Lord expects us to take on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ. I know in my own life that my wife and fellow believers prayed for me when I was in a backslidden state. And it was only as a result of their prayers that I was restored to fellowship with our Lord Jesus once again.

John 8:34 “Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”

Please note that in the area of enslavement to sin, I’m not referring to isolated incidents of sin committed by the believer which they were negligent to confess before the Lord and ask His forgiveness. I am referring to a lifestyle in which a believer habitually practices certain sins. The reason that they continually practice those sins is because they have become enslaved to them, for in the passage of scripture quoted above our Lord Jesus taught us that the one that commits sin ultimately becomes enslaved by that sin. And so unless their brothers and sisters in Christ intervene on their behalf, they become incapable of appropriating the Lord’s forgiveness for themselves.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, (25) in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, (26) and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul reveals to us that there are certain believers who have been taken captive by Satan to do his will. The context of this comment made by Paul is that these individuals had begun to teach heresy in the church. So how did that happen? At one time these believers walked free from Satan’s influence, but at some stage in their Christian walk they opened the door to their adversary by succumbing to the temptation of sin, and subsequently over time as they continued in sin they ultimately became enslaved by their sin. And so we can see from these scriptures how important it is that when we see a brother in the Lord practicing sin that we pray to the Lord for their forgiveness so that they can come to their senses, repent of their sin and receive life from the Lord once again. The added benefit for those who are brought to repentance through the Lord’s grace, is that when we pray for their forgiveness their sins are blotted out of heaven’s records by the cleansing blood of Christ and those sins will not be remembered on that day.

Michael E.B. Maher

Eternal Judgement

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