Probably everyone in this whole wide world has something in their past that they would like to forget… to just erase it from history. But they’ve also got things in their past that they cherish, and want to keep fresh in their memory for the rest of their life. Some are clinging to memories of past glories that have no relevance in the present. Others are bound and tormented by things in their past that SHOULD have no relevance in the present. There are also memories that are good and positive and inspirational. But very few people, however, know how to put their past in proper perspective.
One thing is certain in every one of our lives… there can be no effective dealing with the past, apart from the blood of Jesus Christ! Forgetting sins doesn’t remove them. No amount of regret and agonizing can take away sin. Even perfect living cannot erase the sins of the past. But the blood of Jesus DOES! It is only the blood of Jesus that can give you a clean break from the past… along with all the torment of guilt and condemnation.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” [2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV] Read it again… s-l-o-w-l-y. OK, one more time… catch every word… this is God speaking. This is how God sees it. This is the truth! This is reality!
That is how completely God takes away the past, and makes you brand new, when you come to Him, and give Him your life, and are “born” again. It’s also how God deals with your sin after you have become His child. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1 John 1:9 KJV] That was written to Christians; and it’s another one to read real s-l-o-w-l-y… over , and over. Cleansed from ALL unrighteousness.
But the glories of the past are something else that must be put in God’s perspective. When we, as children of God, see ourselves through the blood of Jesus, as God does; all our past glory or merit or confidence in the flesh, loses all value. Our value is only in the great price that God paid to redeem us… the life of His Son! The cross wipes out the pride of our past.
In Philippians 3, Paul goes through a list of things in his past that he was once proud of… his heritage, his education, his own righteousness, his zeal… Even persecuting the church was something he had once been proud of. But then he says, “what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” What he once called GAIN, now he considers utterly worthless and disgusting… dung.
Now, Paul says, he wants to be found “in Him”… in Christ. (Look back again at 2 Corinthians 5:17) In Christ = a new creature… old is gone… all NEW! Paul could freely talk about his past… including his sin, his error, his blindness, and the harm he brought to innocent people… without guilt and condemnation, because he knew how “gone” his past really was. That was “Saul”. Saul had been crucified with Christ… dead… buried. Saul had become Paul… risen with Christ… a brand new creature!
Sometimes Paul even brought up his own past as an example to demonstrate the great mercy and grace of God. In 1 Timothy 1:12-17, he writes that he had been a blasphemer, a persecutor, injurious… a chief of sinners… even writing it in a letter for everyone to read, which eventually included billions of people. So when Paul said in Philippians 3:13 that he was “forgetting those things which are behind”, it was not to say that he wouldn’t talk about his past. It’s just that now he saw his past (the good and the bad) from God’s perspective… viewed through the blood, and the cross.
Because he was so free from his past, he could openly admit his past error, and use his own testimony to help others. A man who still feels connected to his past couldn’t do that. Obviously, there are things of the past that should never be mentioned again, because it wouldn’t help anybody. But sometimes a fear or unwillingness to admit past wrongs can be an indicator that the past has NOT been completely dealt with.
If you’ve ever TRIED to forget something, you’ve probably realized that it’s impossible, until your attention turns to something else. In the same way, we will never be successful at forgetting the sins or the pride of the past, by denying the truth, or ‘trying’ to forget. We just need to turn our attention to THE truth… God’s truth. Being crucified and risen with Christ… washed in the blood of the holy Lamb of God… will make you brand NEW… totally FREE! Right now… today… and every day!
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