I have heard (I think) that when you ask God or Jesus to forgive your sins and if you really mean it from your heart, God will remember your sins no more.  The ‘sea of forgetfulness’ is what I think it is called.  If this is true, then will these sins come up on the Judgement Day, or will God not remember them anymore?

Sincerely,
Total Recall

Dear Total Recall,

When God forgives, He no longer holds those sins against you… they never get brought up again.  The verse you are referring to is Heb 8:12.  When we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us (1 Jn 1:9).  It isn’t that God has amnesia; it is that He no longer holds those sins against us.  He counts us as righteous because we are faithful (Rom 4:5).  Jesus says that those who are in Christ will not be judged (Jhn 3:18).

I have some concerns and questions.  First of all, I’m married and am a minister. Recently, my wife began a journey to seek God, and some things she is telling people are kind of far out there.  I have faith in the Lord and know He can do anything, but what I’m puzzled about is that she is telling people that God said she was sent here and once was an angel and that she was the commander of God’s army.  Not only that, but all her siblings are angels (one was a seraphim angel, one was this, one was that).  But I have been talking and walking with God my whole life.  He tells me one thing and tells her something different.  Then, one day, I tell her God told me to tell her to basically stop lying.  She was standing right in front of me and said God said that I was a sinner and to repent.  Then, an hour passes, and she then said God said that He had forgiven me because I didn’t know and had no wisdom.  I was led to tell her the story of the Nephilim.  She  said she was sent here like Jesus and John the Baptist.  This is starting to cause a situation where I don’t know what to do.  How can God lead me one way and lead her another?  I know from the Word many things.  She also said, like John, the Lord took her memory, and now it’s coming back to her.  I need some direction.  I cant fight her anymore, but what she says I am responsible for.  I’m the husband.  I need to know what the Scripture says about this whole matter.

Sincerely,
Conflicting Reports

Dear Conflicting Reports,

You are both expecting the Lord to speak to you directly, but He speaks to us through His Word.  John warned that adding and subtracting from the Scriptures is wrong (Rev 22:18-19).  Paul warned that we should not go beyond what is written in the Scriptures (1 Cor 4:6).  He also said that if even an angel from heaven (which your wife claims to be) were to preach another gospel, they would be condemned (Gal 1:8).  Contrary to what many churches teach, God doesn’t speak directly to us when we go to Him in prayer.  He does answer our prayers, but not with words.  The book of Jude says that we have all of God’s words handed down to us, once and for all, in the Bible (Jude 1:3).  Just because you feel something in your heart, doesn’t make it true.

Religious confusion happens because we take our ideas and ascribe them to God.  That is why your wife has one religious view, and you have another.  God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor 14:33)… people are.  All religious confusion comes from selfish desires, individual ideas, and jealous factions of mankind (Jas 3:16).  When we serve God according to our own ideals, we are zealous but not knowledgeable, and zeal without knowledge is useless (Rom 10:1-2).  The only way to find unity is to use the Bible as our only guide – nothing more.  God only created one standard (Eph 4:1-6); if we want unity, we’ve got to do things His way.  Ask your wife to show you book, chapter, and verse in the Bible that proves she is a reincarnated angel… we have a pretty confident feeling that she will be at a loss for honest words.

I am a believer.  Unfortunately, I hang out with lost people and have a tendency to do what they do (drink, etc.).  I feel God drawing me closer to Him.  I have a very wounded heart from the past.  Here is my question: will God in one form or another take people He does not want me to be around out of my life since I can’t seem to do it on my own?

In the last month, I have had a falling out with three of these people, and it wasn’t my doing.  Please explain; thanks.

Sincerely,
Too Friendly

Dear Too Friendly,

The Lord helps those who make decisions to put Him first.  God won’t magically remove all the temptations from your life, but He will make sure you are never tempted beyond what you are able (1 Cor 10:13).  God promises that the struggles of this life can be resisted… and there is an expectation that you will do that.  Bad company corrupts good morals (1 Cor 15:33).  As you expressed, unhealthy relationships will destroy your soul like rust destroys iron.

God promises that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us (Jas 4:8).  As you make decisions to purify your life and build healthy relationships, God will reward you for those decisions.

Does God make you suffer... because my God loves all His children, good or bad, and I believe that He will help you the best He can, like a father should do.  He does not make you suffer; He helps you everyday, but it seems like my life is just about suffering, no happiness, just darkness alone, and that’s how I feel.  I feel like I am just in empty space with no one.  It also seems like the good people die first, and the drug addicts and jerks live good, happy lives.

Sincerely,
Feeling Alone

Dear Feeling Alone,

We suffer in this life because of the sin and wickedness in this world, but christians hope for a day when all suffering will end.  All christians suffer in this life (Acts 14:22).  Suffering makes us stronger if we remain faithful (Rom 5:3-5).  Pain and weakness remind us that we must trust in the Lord and not in ourselves (2 Cor 12:10).  We live in a world full of sin and destruction, and it is a struggle to live a godly and faithful life in this present world (Tit 2:12).  Solomon said that the wicked often seem victorious in this life (Eccl 3:16)… but it is still better to be righteous (Eccl 12:13).  We are so sorry for your suffering.  Stay strong, and eventually heaven will be all the sweeter because of it (Col 3:2).

I have a question about the Holy Spirit.  I know in the Bible that it says to deny the Holy Spirit is an eternal sin.  Does this mean that if I have ever said that the Holy Spirit does not exist – even after I have been saved (I had a falling out) – that I will go to hell?  I'd like an answer because I'm not in full understanding of what Jesus meant.

Sincerely,
Trying To Fall In

Dear Trying To Fall In,

The unforgivable sin is the sin against the Holy Spirit, and the fact that you are visiting this website is a pretty sure sign that you haven’t committed it.  Jesus says that any sin will be forgiven except for someone blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Mk 3:28-30).  Jesus said this to the crowd that accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan (Mk 3:23).  That crowd could have been forgiven of any sin, but instead they rejected the miracles that testified that Jesus was from God.  Contrast that crowd’s attitude with Nicodemus’ attitude.  Nicodemus understood that the only way that someone could perform a miracle was if God was with him (Jhn 3:2).  When that crowd rejected the evidence that the Holy Spirit provided (in this case, the miracles), they rejected any chance to receive the forgiveness found in Jesus’ teachings.  When we reject the truth of God (the Bible), we reject the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit’s primary job is to bring the truth of the gospel to mankind (see the post “What the Holy Spirit Does” for more details).  Someone blasphemes the Holy Spirit by rejecting the truth that the Holy Spirit sent us in the Bible.  Any sin can be forgiven if we will turn to God’s Word and obey it (Rom 10:17, Heb 5:9), but there is absolutely no hope for someone if he or she will not accept the Holy Spirit’s Bible.

Therefore, since it seems that you are actively seeking the truth and trying to study and learn what God’s Word is – you can find comfort that you haven’t committed the unforgivable sin.