God's "Sea of Forgetfulness"
When I was a young man attending church among evangelicals, it was not uncommon to hear that when we come to Christ, God places all of our sins in His “Sea of Forgetfulness.” The concept suggests God has a place, literal or symbolic, where He tosses every sin when He forgives us so He’ll never remember them again. When trying to find those words in the Bible, I always felt lacking because I didn’t know enough about His Word to do so. The truth only became apparent much later, when I discovered those words aren’t in the Bible at all. I didn’t know enough about His Word, but not in the way I thought (irony).
Where does it come from then? I think it draws inspiration from a couple of places. Micah 7:19 is one of them. Another is Psalm 103:12. If you haven’t already, you can verify this yourself by using an appropriate Bible search tool. If you don’t already know, as I once did not, it also doesn’t say that God helps those who help themselves (those words come from the pagan beliefs of ancient Greece, and it was “the gods help those who help themselves”). If the phrase doesn’t come from Scripture, is it useful and true? How can we know? If we let the Bible interpret itself, we should get a straightforward answer, but it may not be what we expect. To release a debt is not the same as to forget a debt.
Where can we look to discover whether God forgets the debts He forgives? In Matthew 18, we find the parable of the unmerciful servant. In it, we discover a man under a great debt to the king. The man represents a person with a much greater sin debt than he could ever hope to repay. The king represents God. In Matthew 18:27, it says that the master of that servant has compassion for him, releases him, and forgives the debt. Since it calls him a servant, it seems the man actually represents a believer in Christ/God. The word translated “forgive” means to send away. In no way does the story or the language suggest the king forgot the man’s debt. In fact, the king later calls the man to answer on account of it. Matthew 18:32-33 then shows that the master remembers the debt. The servant ends up back in condemnation on account of his own willful behavior. The king could not have acted this way if he had forgotten the man’s debt.
Some will say, “That’s one story, it’s not literal, and He was talking to the Jews.” It is a story, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Even if it didn’t happen, the point of the story gets highlighted by Jesus’ epilogue comment to listeners that God would do the same thing to those who don’t forgive their brothers and sisters from the heart. Regarding the Jews—yes, His audience was Jewish. He was born to them. They inherited the Promise. Salvation comes from them; first to the Jew and then to the Gentile. However, God also said to the Jews, “Thou shalt not covet.” Paul reiterates this to Gentile followers of Christ, already made familiar with His commandments, as falling up under the command to love. Jesus did not abolish the Law by His coming and sacrifice. Jesus fulfilled it; He did not erase it in the least. The command to us to love one another doesn’t counter our need to understand how that love should manifest in this world. We must forgive since Christ commanded it of His followers, regardless of whether He’d gone to the cross yet or not.
Jesus spoke to His listeners directly, warning them of the consequences for not forgiving others. Who were His listeners? Those who followed Him everywhere He went? Those who followed Him were not all “followers,” nor were they all Jews. Many who were not Jews listened, followed, or sought Him out. As did many who did not believe His words. However, He did not distinguish between them when He gave the warning. But some will say, “Still, it happened before the cross, so that’s under the Law and not Grace.” And I say to you that if we take that stance with the general teachings of Christ, many valuable teachings and sayings would also need tossing out as “not for today.” Do we not need to be born again? Is that also only for the Jews under the Law? Do we not need to take up our crosses daily and follow Him? Is that also only for the Jews under the Law? Do we not need to love God, our neighbor, and our enemies? Tithes are for today, but not this stern warning about forgiveness from the lips of Christ? Interesting.
Let’s look elsewhere, in Ezekiel. God says that if a wicked person turns from all of their sin, keeps the whole of His commands, doing what is lawful and right, that person would live and not die. It then says that none of his/her sins would be remembered against him/her, suggesting the sins are not truly forgotten, but just not accounted to the person who committed them. After this, in 18:24 it warns that if the righteous turn from their righteousness, sinning and acting like the wicked, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered, and that person shall die. Nothing in the language there suggests that the former righteous acts of the fallen will be remembered at all.
Some will say, “But that is under the Law as well.” Okay, but we know from Romans 13:8-10 that love is the perfect fulfillment of God’s commands. Therefore, while it was not possible for someone under the Law to actually live out keeping the whole of the Law, for no one is without sin, since they lived by faith under an inferior system of continual sacrifices, how much more will God call us to account who are to live by love, the perfect fulfillment of the whole of His commands? Should we not surpass those under the Law in fulfilling the words in Ezekiel, through love in Christ?
I find, based on Scripture inquiries, the warning holds regarding all Children of God and, therefore, the concept of God’s so-called “sea of forgetfulness” is contrary to Scripture, wisdom from God, and prudent, God-fearing behavior. So, I put a question to you: Do you treat everyone you meet, digitally, electronically, or physically, with the perfect love of God in Christ? If not, ask yourself these questions also: Why? When? Under what circumstances? How can I do better? How can I change my behavior? And when you’ve tried that and failed, turn to Jesus, acknowledge that you cannot do it without Him, humble yourself, and ask Him passionately for help to change the way you see and treat people and to bring your wrong-headed attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors into better alignment with Himself.
If anything here is good, remember me to our God in prayer.